_________________________________________________________________
Title: A History of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Volume IV.
Creator(s): Bangs, Nathan, D.D.
Print Basis: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1839
Rights: Public Domain
CCEL Subjects: All; History
LC Call no: BX8235.B35 1838 V.4
LC Subjects:
Christian Denominations
Protestantism
Post-Reformation
Other Protestant denominations
Methodism
_________________________________________________________________
A History Of The
Methodist Episcopal Church
By Nathan Bangs, D.D.
In Two Volumes
(Later Expanded To Four Volumes — DVM)
VOLUME IV
FROM THE YEAR 1829 TO THE YEAR 1840.
THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED.
“How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob; and thy tabernacles, O Israel,” Numbers
xxiv, 5.
“Behold, I send an Angel before thee — beware of him, and obey his voice;
provoke him not. — If thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I
speak, then I will be an enemy to thine enemies, and an adversary to thine
adversaries,”
Exod. xxiii, 20–22.
NEW-YORK:
PUBLISHED BY T. MASON AND G. LANE,
FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH,
AT THE CONFERENCE OFFICE, 200 MULBERRY-STREET.
J. Collord, Printer.
1839.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1838, by T. Mason
& G. Lane, in the clerk’s office of the Southern District of New York
_________________________________________________________________
Volume IV.
FROM THE YEAR 1829 TO THE YEAR 1840.
_________________________________________________________________
BOOK V
CHAPTER 10
Nineteen annual conferences — episcopal duties; education — extract from
report of General Conference; new missions; Publishing Fund; its objects and
capital; death and character of Bishop George; numbers; controversy; Its
causes; Bible Society, Clarke’s Commentary, Wesley’s Testament, and general
economy of Methodism assaulted and defended; Its ministry; its government
and success; national societies — why censured; temperance; Oneida and other
missions; Mariners’ Church in Boston; protracted meetings; deaths; numbers;
aboriginal missions; Shawnee mission; other missions; death of Henry Holmes;
numbers; Upper Canada; aboriginal missions; removal of Indians, and its
effects; other missions; Wesleyan University; Randolph Macon College; La
Grange College; numbers.
CHAPTER 11
General Conference of 1832; number and names of delegates; address of the
bishops; report on missions; on education; Bible, Sunday School, and Tract
Societies; pastoral address; report on temperance; American Colonization
Society; affairs of Upper Canada; report on the episcopacy; election of
Bishops Andrew and Emory; regulation lessening the number of delegates;
relief of worn-out preachers; against leaving preachers without an
appointment; traveling agents; jurisdiction of bishops; adjournment.
CHAPTER 12
Number of bishops and annual conferences; Liberia; how and when settled;
first emigrants; disastrous results of first settlement; removal to another
place; prosperity of the new colony; missions in Liberia, and appointment of
Melville B. Cox; his arrival in Africa; organizes a church; plans of
usefulness; sickens and dies; his character; Green Bay mission; other
missions; death and character of Lemuel Green; of Wm. Phoebus; of Nathaniel
Porter; numbers; work prosperous; domestic missions; their use; Dickinson
and Allegheny Colleges; Genesee Conference Academy; death and character of
J. M. Smith; numbers; general improvement; Liberia mission; Flat head, or
Oregon mission; description of Oregon; Hudson Company; Astoria; general
reflections; Visit of Flat Head Indians to General Clark; great sensation
produced by the announcement of this fact; Jason and Daniel Lee appointed to
the mission; on their journey; arrival; reception at Fort Vancouver, and
first sermon; commence at Williamette; reinforcement sent; arrival; more
sent; cattle procured from California — Temperance Society formed; revival
of religion; other missions; Lebanon College; legal decision respecting
class and other collections; influence of this decision; deaths of
preachers; numbers; mission to South America — general state of the country;
encouragements to commence the mission; appointment of Mr. Pitts; other
missions; for the slave population; death an character of Bishop McKendree;
death and character of Bishop Emory.
CHAPTER 13
General Conference of 1836; names of delegates; address of the Wesleyan
Methodist Conference; answer; Fast; address of the bishops; death and
funeral discourse of Bishops McKendree and Emory; Bible Society of M. E.
Church dissolved; corresponding secretary Missionary Society appointed;
Liberia annual conference; additional rule respecting receiving preachers;
periodical literature, and settlement of Canada affairs; election of
bishops; locating preachers without their consent, and a rule for trying
superannuated preachers; abolitionism; strength of the argument; pastoral
address; resolutions respecting agents for societies not connected with us.
CHAPTER 14
Diminution in Church members; its probable causes; deaths of preachers;
numbers; South American missions; Liberia mission; other missions; numbers;
missions in Illinois; in Texas; German and French missions; colleges and
academies; death and character of Dr. Ruter; of others; numbers; general
work; Oregon mission — Christianity must precede civilization; great work of
God in Oregon; centenary of Methodism; education promoted; death and
character of Thomas Morrell; of Samuel Merwin; of Wilbur Fisk; of Smith
Arnold; of John D. Bangs.
CHAPTER 15
General Conference of 1840; names of delegates; delegates from England and
Upper Canada; address of the bishops; address from the British Conference;
answer of the General Conference; address of the managers of the Missionary
Society; report on the journal of secretary; report on moderate episcopacy;
remarks of Mr. Newton; report on education; on episcopal powers; on
presidents of Q. M. conferences; slavery and abolitionism, and colored
testimony; temperance; method of receiving ministers from other
denominations; on sabbath schools; on ordaining those to the ministry who
own slaves; on the alterations in constitution of Missionary Society;
American Colonization Society; regulations for trying supernumerary and
superannuated preachers; pastoral address; close of the conference.
CHAPTER 16
Book Concern — its origin; first book published; others issued; death of
John Dickins, the first book steward; succeeded by Ezekiel Cooper; John
Wilson his assistant, and then the principal; embarrassed state of the
Concern; revives under Joshua Soule and Thomas Mason; Magazine resumed;
increase of publications; debts likewise increased, with means of
liquidation; revised hymn and tune book; book bindery; printing office;
Clarke’s Commentary and other books, and stereotype plates; Christian
Advocate; enlargement of the Concern — branch in Cincinnati; new
arrangements; good effects of; new buildings and increased variety of books;
labor of editors and agents; enlargement of buildings; consumed by fire;
origin of the fire; public sympathy and aid to rebuild; presses and hands
employed; various periodicals; objects and influence of the Concern
misunderstood; moral, scientific and religious; pecuniary incidental only;
closing remarks.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 10
From the close of the General Conference of 1828 to the beginning of the
General Conference of 1832
Our last volume closed with an account of the doings of the General
Conference of 1828, including a brief history of the radical controversy,
and its results. With a view to give a consecutive narrative of that affair,
the chronological order of the history, in relation to that controversy, was
anticipated for three or four years; and therefore no more need be said in
reference to that subject than merely to remark, that great peace and
harmony prevailed throughout the bounds of the Church, and the work of God
was generally prosperous.
The Oneida conference was formed at the General Conference of 1828, making
in all nineteen annual conferences to be attended by five bishops. As,
however, the health of Bishop McKendree was very feeble, the labor of the
superintendency devolved chiefly on the other four bishops; and as Bishop
George died early in 1828, the remaining three bishops had work enough on
their hands for the three succeeding years. The manner, however, in which
they fulfilled their high and weighty trusts gave general satisfaction to
the Church, and tended powerfully to keep up its union, and to promote its
peace and prosperity.
The cause of education was now advancing with much more rapidity than
heretofore. A very able report was adopted at the last General Conference in
favor of education, tending to show the great importance of this subject to
the welfare of the Church, and particularly to the rising generation. In
addition to three academies heretofore noticed, it appears that at this time
the Mississippi conference had established the “Elizabeth Female Academy,”
the name being given to it in honor of Mrs. Elizabeth Greenfield, who laid
its foundation by the gift of a lot of land, and a building estimated to be
worth three thousand dollars. Another had been commenced under hopeful
prospects in Tuscaloosa, in the state of Alabama, and two others in
Illinois, under the patronage of the Illinois conference, one in Green
county, and the other in the county of St. Clair.
After some general statements on the number and character of the literary
institutions then in existence under the patronage of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, the report, the production of the late Dr. Fisk, contains
the following very just and timely remarks: —
“In review of the whole, we find the efforts and successful operations in
different conferences to promote the cause of literature and science have
increased very considerably since the last General Conference. There are now
six or seven promising institutions in successful operation, two of them
having college charters, namely, Madison College and Augusta College, which
are already prepared to take students through a regular course, and confer
on them the ordinary degrees and literary honors of such institutions, and
hold out encouragements and assurances that authorize us to recommend them
to the patronage of our friends. Other institutions are advancing to the
same standing, and several more are contemplated, and will probably soon be
put into operation. And it is a matter that ought to be noticed as calling
for special gratitude to God, that revivals of religion have been so
frequent in our literary seminaries. And this, too, ought to stimulate our
people to encourage and patronize these institutions. If God smiles on our
undertakings, shall we not proceed? We have reason, indeed, to think that
the minds of both ministers and people are more awake to this subject than
heretofore. The importance of literary institutions is more generally felt
than formerly, and a greater and more general disposition to aid in this
work is manifested. But we are still too much asleep on this subject. We are
in danger of not keeping up with the improvements of society. If we should
fail of contributing our share in this work, we should not only fall short
of our obligations to society in general, but to our own Church in
particular. The subject of education ought to be considered of special
importance and of special interest to Methodist preachers, both as it
respects their own usefulness and the interests of their families. We do
not, indeed, profess to educate young men and train them up specifically for
the ministry. But it will be readily seen, that, as our ministers are raised
up mostly from among ourselves, their literary character will vary according
to the general character of the Church.
“We said this subject was of special interest to Methodist preachers’
families. We wish this to be deeply impressed on the minds of all, and we
could wish every conference would by some means make provision for the
education of the children of itinerant ministers. The changeable and
uncertain life of a traveling minister, the duties which call him so much
from his family and domestic concerns, all show the almost imperious
necessity for such a provision. Posterity will hardly suppose we have
conferred a great favor upon the world, if, in our zeal to benefit others,
we suffer our own children to grow up uneducated and unrestrained, a
disgrace to the gospel we preach, and a reproach to their parents. If we
would save the itinerant plan from falling into deserved disrepute, we must
see to it that our children be not neglected in their moral culture and
literary instruction.”
There can be no doubt that this report gave a fresh stimulus to the cause of
literature and science among us, and made many feel the obligations they
were under to promote it, who had hitherto been indifferent to its success.
Such was the influence which the missionary cause was now exerting on the
Church generally, that most of the new places which were occupied were
entered under the patronage of the Missionary Society. This year the Red
Hook mission, which embraced a territory lying on the east side of the
Hudson River, the inhabitants of which were chiefly descendants of the
Dutch, was undertaken in compliance with the earnest request of the late
Rev. Freeborn Garrettson, whose widow contributed one hundred dollars a year
toward its support.
In Steuben country, in the western part of New York, there was a
considerable number of Welch people settled, who could not understand the
English language; and the Rev. David Cadwalder, who was able to preach in
Welch, was sent as a missionary among them. His labors were so blessed that
be formed a society of sixty members, and also erected a house of worship
for their accommodation.
In the western country new fields were constantly opening for gospel
laborers. This year St. Marys mission was commenced. It embraced the new
settlements in the northwestern counties of the state of Ohio. The labors of
the missionary were blessed to the awakening and conversion of souls, and
the work has gradually prospered and enlarged the sphere of its influence
from that day to this. Another, called St.. Clair mission, in Michigan, was
also begun under favorable prospects, and it was the happy commencement of a
gracious work in all that region of country.
This year the “Publishing Fund” was established. This originated in a
consultation with the book agents and the editor of the Christian Advocate
and journal, the latter of whom had prepared a constitution for the
contemplated Bible Society, at the suggestion of the late Bishop Emory, who
was then the senior book agent. The object was to devise ways and means to
enable the Book concern to publish Bibles and Testaments, Sunday school
books and tracts, on the cheapest possible terms. When these societies were
formed, the book agents had pledged themselves to furnish the books for the
Sunday schools, and tracts for tract societies, as cheap as they could be
purchased elsewhere; and as the American Bible, Sunday School, and Tract
Societies, being largely patronized and aided by the public munificence,
were able to supply the demand for their respective publications almost at
cost, it was soon found that we could not compete with them in the market
unless ways and means were devised to furnish the needful funds. Our Book
Concern at that time was deeply in debt, and could not therefore, from its
own resources, print and circulate the books for Sunday schools, and tracts,
at as low prices as they were furnished by the American societies, without
risking its own reputation, if not, indeed, its very existence. To remedy
this defect, and to supply the deficiency in funds, at the consultation
before alluded to, it was agreed to make an attempt to establish a
“Publishing Fund,” in connection with the Bible, Sunday School, and Tract
Societies of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was accordingly done, and
the constitution, together with the address of the managers, was published
in the Christian Advocate and Journal on the 17th of October, 1828.
The following extract from this address will more fully explain the
principles and objects of this fund, and show that it was not intended to
increase the actual resources of the Book Concern, or to add to its
available funds, but simply to meet the extra expense incurred by furnishing
publications on such terms as to enable our people to purchase books at
their own establishment as cheap as they could be had elsewhere, without the
hazard of being compelled to use books of which they could not approve. The
following is the extract: —
“The managers of these societies, in conjunction with the agents of our
General Book Concern, have resolved to make a joint effort for the efficient
prosecution of our common objects. God has blessed us in all our borders,
temporally and spiritually. A thousand times we have exclaimed, ‘What hath
be wrought.’ And yet the fields are opening before us, and still whitening
to the harvest. The vast extent and the immense improvements of our country;
its rapid growth, both in population and resources; the great and steady
increase of our own denomination as a body of Christians, and our consequent
obligations as stewards of the manifold grace of Him whose we are and whom
we serve, and who requires us to excel in good works; our own growing
resources, which ought to be consecrated to the Author of our mercies; the
wants of the millions, of every age and sex, who sit in darkness or in
guilt, and who must increase with the rapidly and vastly increasing
population, without increased efforts for their good; the zealous and highly
liberal efforts of other denominations, and our own special call, as we have
from the beginning believed to be the design of God in raising us up, to aid
in spreading Scriptural holiness over these lands: — in a word, the cause of
God and of our country, of the rising generation and of posterity, demand of
us, at this crisis, an exertion bearing at least some ratio of proportion to
our obligations and to our means.
“The present is an era in our history of unparalleled interest. In the great
spiritual and moral objects avowedly contemplated by the benevolent
institutions and the Christian movements of the day, we have repeatedly
declared our cordial and entire concurrence. With regard to the means of
accomplishing them, we have differed. For various reasons, repeatedly
assigned, we have considered it our duty to decline the proposed
‘national’ combinations, which, in our view, threatened for a while to
swallow up, and absolutely to annihilate, every other plan of operation in
our country. Such a result we still believe would have been pregnant with
hazard. This sentiment does not by any means necessarily imply an
impeachment of the Christian motives of those who may have differed from us
in judgment. Our resistance to the consolidation of denominations, in
effect, has had, we believe, a happy influence. But does it free us from our
responsibilities as stewards of the mysteries and of the mercies of God?
Does it release us from our obligations to contribute our full share toward
the great work of civilizing, moralizing, and Christianizing the world? It
does not. On the contrary, it increases both, since, from the stand we have
taken, it is peculiarly incumbent on us now to see to it that the great and
common cause shall, at least, sustain no loss by our course. If we desire,
indeed, to be ‘a peculiar people,’ ‘redeemed from all iniquity’ by the
precious blood of HIM who, for this purpose, ‘gave himself for us,’ let us
not forget that we cannot sustain this high character without being at the
same time, and in a correspondent degree, ‘zealous of good works,’ for which
also Christ died.
“The great object of the Methodist Book Concern, from the beginning, has
been to serve as an auxiliary in spreading Scriptural truth and holiness.
With this view it has been the medium through which our Sunday school books
and tracts have been issued, and it is intended also to be the medium for
the publication of our Bibles and Testaments. The well-known character and
the established credit of this institution, under the direction of the
General Conference, and, in the intermediate years, of the New York
conference, is an ample guaranty for the faithful application of funds.
Hitherto almost the whole business of our general benevolent associations
has been performed through the agency of this concern, with the aid of its
agents abroad. And whatever expenses, or risks, or losses have been
incurred, either in the general depository, or by supplying the auxiliary
depositories, were so extensive a country, have been wholly borne by this
establishment. If it were practicable, as in ordinary cases, to establish
the prices of such publications so as to cover all such expenses, and risks,
and occasional losses, and to provide for such additional service as may be
required, this might, perhaps, still be done. But the terms on which Sunday
school books, tracts, Bibles, and Testaments are now expected will not admit
of this; nor, in the prospect of the vastly increased demand, will it be
possible for us, in this way, to maintain any thing like a fair and
honorable competition with other institutions, which were originally endowed
with large funds, and are still largely assisted both by regular annual
contributions and by occasional donations; whose treasuries, nevertheless,
we are assured, are still usually exhausted, and their calls for further aid
are frequent and earnest. The consequence to us must be, either that the
Methodist Book Concern, if left single handed and unaided, must be run down,
and its great and benevolent objects be defeated, or our own publications,
of the description mentioned, must be ‘forced out of circulation:’ to
prevent which, if we mean to prevent it, ways and means must be devised to
aid this establishment. It only remains for us, therefore, to determine
whether we will aid our own institutions, or contribute our funds elsewhere.
For give we must, somewhere; and continue to give, as God shall continue to
bless us, and as occasions and objects continue to rise before us. Without
this we cannot, we ought not to maintain our name or standing as a Christian
people. Shall we, then, refuse to give at home, and suffer our own
institutions to flag or fail; and, after all, from sheer shame, if from no
better principle, be compelled to give elsewhere? We say, no.
“In view of the facts and premises above stated, the managers of the Bible,
Sunday School, and Tract Societies of the Methodist Episcopal Church have
resolved, jointly, to co-operate with the agents of the Book Concern, and
their auxiliary agencies, to raise a fund to be vested in that concern, as a
permanent and certain resource for the accomplishment of their common
objects. And they have resolved to aim at a foundation broad and strong, in
view not only of the wants immediately pressing on us, but also of those of
which the vast prospect opens before us; and to erect a superstructure from
which, with the divine favor, streams of blessing may flow to generations
yet unborn.
For the buildings requisite for depositories, agents’ offices, printing
office, bindery, and for the transaction of the general business of the
three societies, and for stereotype plates, binders’ and printers’ presses,
and all the requisite apparatus for printing and binding, on the scale
contemplated, a sum not less than fifty thousand dollars will be requisite.
For these objects a debt of nearly one fourth of that sum has already been
incurred by the Book Concern, without any charge whatever for personal
services And yet we can scarcely be said to have more than commenced in the
operation of these Societies; and with regard to the Bible Society, hardly
to have made a beginning, except in the preparation of a few sets of
stereotype plates, in anticipation. To conduct our operations to the extent
intended, and to which, with united exertion, we are amply adequate, much
greater sums must yet be raised. It will doubtless be found necessary to
introduce power presses, with other improvements, both to increase the
rapidity of publishing, and to reduce the prices. In view of all which,
after conferring together, in deliberate consultation, we are of opinion
that it is not safe, for the purpose of enabling the three societies to make
the necessary preparations, to name to our friends a less sum than that
above mentioned. After these preparations shall have been made, it must be
recollected, however, that considerable annual and current expenses still
must necessarily be incurred, in the service necessary for preparing,
packing, carting, and forwarding books and tracts, with the requisite
clerkship, fuel, lights, insurance, ground rent, and postage, the latter
item of which alone will probably increase to perhaps not less than from one
thousand to fifteen hundred dollars per annum. All such expenses have
heretofore been borne by the Book Concern, which, consequently, has been
obliged to fix the prices of the publications so as, in a measure at least,
to cover those expenses, or else to sustain heavy actual loss. With a view,
therefore, still further to lessen the prices, by having respect, in fixing
them, to the actual cost of paper, press-work, and binding only, on the most
economical principles, it is judged indispensable that a fund be raised, and
be vested in the Book Concern, the use or interest of which shall be
permanently appropriated to cover the above or any other unavoidable items
of current expense and in consideration of which investments, when made, the
said concern has pledged itself to submit to the managers of the above
societies respectively, in conjunction with the agents, the determination of
the prices at which their respective publications shall be furnished, on the
principles above stated. And on this plan only, in our opinion, can they be
furnished at the very low rates at which they are called for, and must be
supplied. The further sum necessary for these purposes, on the enlarged and
extensive plan contemplated, cannot be safely estimated at less than fifty
thousand dollars, the interest of which alone, namely, three thousand
dollars per annum, it will be observed, is to be applied to cover the items
of annual and contingent expenses above-mentioned, or which I may
unavoidably occur in the course of business. In all of which, however, it
may be proper to mention, that it is not intended that an addition of one
cent shall be made, out of any of these funds, to the support already
allowed, agreeably to Discipline, to the regular agents of the Book Concern;
and that they are intended solely to cover the extra expenses incurred by
the extra business of these societies, whose publications are issued in
connection with that concern. It was with a view to the extra labor caused
by such publications, in part, that an additional agent was appointed at the
last General Conference; and as our operations shall be extended, further
help, in various ways, will undoubtedly be found indispensably requisite.”
It will be perceived that this fund was to be vested in the Book Concern,
and the interest alone used to meet the unavoidable expense of publishing
the requisite books for the above-mentioned societies. And though it was in
contemplation to raise one hundred thousand dollars, the fund, even now,
(1841,) amounts to only about forty thousand. Comparatively small, however,
as it is, it has done much good, and the Book Concern has been enabled to
fulfill its obligations in supplying the books on as low terms as they could
be purchased at other depositories. The dissolution of the Bible Society of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, by which the concern has been relieved from
publishing Bibles and Testaments on those terms, will be noticed in its
proper place.
Twelve deaths are recorded; fifty were located; seventy returned
supernumerary; one hundred and one superannuated; and three had been
expelled.
Among those who had died this year was Enoch George, one of the bishops of
the Methodist Episcopal Church. The following is taken from the Minutes of
the Conferences for 1829: —
“He was born in the state of Virginia, Lancaster county, in the year 1767 or
’68. His mother died when he was young, and he was left in the care of an
elder sister. During his minority his father removed to the state of North
Carolina. At about the age of eighteen or nineteen he became, through the
instrumentality of the Methodist ministry, deeply convinced of sin, and
sought and obtained the pardoning mercy of God, through our Lord Jesus
Christ. He was soon called to the exercise of public prayer and exhortation;
and after fruitless struggles to suppress the impression of duty which
increasingly rested upon his mind, with great diffidence he entered the
field of labor as a preacher. He traveled a short time with Philip Cox, and
was then sent, by Bishop Asbury, to assist Daniel Asbury in forming a
circuit on the head waters of the Catawba and Broad Rivers.
“In 1790 he was received into the itinerant connection on trial, and
appointed to Pamlico circuit; and in 1791 to Caswell. In 1792 he was
admitted into full connection, ordained deacon, and appointed to Guilford
circuit; and in 1793 to Broad River. In 1794 he was ordained elder, and
appointed to Great Pee Dee. The next year he was appointed to Edisto, with
instructions to labor three months in Charleston, South Carolina; and the
two years following he filled the office of presiding elder.
In 1798, on account of ill health, be traveled to the north as far as New
York. Having measurably recovered his health, in 1800 he resumed his labors,
and was appointed presiding elder of Potomac district, in the Baltimore
conference. His health failed a second time, and he located in 1801. In 1803
he again entered the itinerant field, and was appointed to Frederick
circuit; in 1804 to Baltimore district; 1805, Alexandria district; 1807,
Georgetown, D.C.; 1808, Frederick; 1809, Montgomery; 1810, Baltimore
circuit; 1811, Potomac district; and in 1815 to Georgetown district.
“At the General Conference held in Baltimore, May, 1816, he was elected and
ordained bishop. In the active discharge of the arduous duties of this
highly responsible office he continued until his death. He died at Staunton,
Va., August 23, 1828, in the peace and triumph of gospel faith, and with his
latest breath giving ‘glory to God.’
Bishop George was a man of deep piety, of great simplicity of manners, a
very pathetic, powerful, and successful preacher, greatly beloved in life,
and very extensively lamented in death.”
A more minute and extended memoir of this servant of God may be seen in the
Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review for 1830.
That which distinguished Bishop George among his fellows was the warmth of
his zeal, and the quickness of his movements. This no doubt arose from the
depth of his piety. He seemed, indeed, to live and walk in God. This was
evident from the uniformity of his devotions, as well as from his general
deportment, both before the public and in his more private intercourse with
his friends. He always lose early in the morning, and, if circumstances
permitted, would spend the morning before breakfast in a solitary walk in
the field, for meditation and private devotion; and in these lonely rambles
he delighted in the contemplation of the Deity, as he is seen in his works
and ways, and in holding communion with him in praise and prayer.
He was naturally eloquent, and his eloquence was all natural. He never
sought to embellish his subjects with those artificial tinsels of pulpit
oratory substituted by some for those overflowings of the heart which
proceed from being filled and fired with the truth which the lips utter.
Hence his “preaching was not with the enticing words of man’s wisdom,” but
it was in “demonstration and power,” and “with much assurance in the Holy
Ghost.” He was more distinguished, however, for affecting the heart and
moving the passions, than for enlightening the understanding and informing
the judgment. Whenever, therefore, you saw him begin to rub his eyes with
his fingers, as if wiping thence the gushing tear, you might expect a
pouring forth of those streams of gospel truth, generally of that
declamatory or hortatory character, which were calculated to move the hearer
to weep or shout, according to his predominant feeling. And he seldom
concluded a sermon without greatly moving his audience in either of these
ways, because he was first moved himself by those sacred and heavenly
emotions which were evidently produced by the energetic workings of the Holy
Spirit.
Viewing him, therefore, simply as an ambassador of God, sent peculiarly to
awaken the conscience of the sinner, and to alarm or to strengthen the faith
of the believer, and quicken him in the divine life, he was most eminently
qualified for his great work. In addition to the holy pathos with which he
breathed out the “words of truth and soberness,” his voice was exceedingly
musical, shrill, and clear, his action natural, and expressive of the
feelings of his heart, and all calculated to impress the hearer with the
solemn truths which fell from his lips. If, however, we were to judge him by
other tests of a pulpit orator, we should detect some defects. In education
he was quite deficient, and his general reading was very limited. For this
lack of acquired knowledge he might be considered as furnishing more than a
substitute in the pointedness of his appeals, and the manner in which he
fortified all his positions by direct appeals to the sacred Scriptures. And
if he dealt in detached sentences instead of following a consecutive order
and arrangement of argumentation, he was abundantly compensated in the
blessed effects which he saw produced in the hearts of those who heard him,
and knew how to appreciate the value of a sermon more from its unction than
its argument. His premises were found, where every minister of Christ should
find them, in the Bible; and his conclusions were thence drawn without much
regard to logical arrangement, and certainly without any circumlocution,
direct, and with a force it was hardly possible to resist. And from the
earnestness of his manner, some have entirely mistaken his objects and
motives. Beholding the emotions which were very generally produced in the
pious part of his hearers, sometimes expressed in loud shouts of praise,
those who were mere outward court worshipers, or uninterested hearers, have
retired from the sanctuary under a conviction that Bishop George was acting
the part of a mountebank, speaking for the purpose of gaining shouts of
applause. A sad mistake this. He ascended the pulpit, not as a stage-player
mounts the stage, but as an ambassador of Christ, commissioned to declare
his counsel unto the people, and to negotiate a
“Peace ‘twixt earth and heaven.”
And in the fulfillment of this commission he did not trifle with the awful
realities of time and eternity, but poured forth from a full heart the
solemn truths of God, in a manner which penetrated the conscience and drew
forth the confession, by sobs and shouts, that God was with him of a truth.
Such was Bishop George in the pulpit. In the chair of the conference he was
less acceptable. Though he was always intent on accomplishing the greatest
amount of good by the best possible means, he often defeated his purpose by
the haste with which he endeavored to dispatch the business. His manner,
also was sometimes abrupt and undignified, and of course did not always
command that respect which every conscientious mind would wish to feel and
pay to a superior. Nor were his decisions always made with that wisdom and
deliberation needful to produce a conviction of their correctness in all
cases. He appeared, therefore, to much greater advantage in the pulpit than
its the chair of the conference; and had he lived and died simply as an
itinerant Methodist preacher, he had commanded more respect than was felt
for him as a general superintendent of the church. These defects, however,
detract nothing from his moral worth, nor render him less worthy of
affection as a Christian bishop, or as a man deeply and seriously devoted to
the best interests of the human family; for who is perfect in every respect?
But in whatever light we view him, he will long be remembered with
affection, as one of our early pioneers in the ranks of the itinerancy, as
an indefatigable laborer in his Lord’s vineyard, who won many sinners to
Christ, and was always a son of consolation to God’s believing people.
The warmth of his affections won him many friends, and the affability of his
manners endeared him to them as a brother beloved, who might be approached
at all times with a cheerful confidence.
His death was sudden and unexpected. Its announcement, therefore, spread a
temporary gloom over the Methodist community. But death did not find him
unprepared. He met this “last enemy,” not only with meek submission, but
with a holy triumph, and a well-grounded hope of eternal life. As the words,
“Glory to God!” had often fell from his lips in the pulpit, so in his last
moments, in full view of the invisible world, he shouted forth the praises
of God, and no doubt went to the abodes of bliss and immortality.
The following statement of the numbers will show that the work was generally
prosperous.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 359,533; Last Year: 327,932;
Increase: 31,601 — Colored This Year: 58,856; Last Year: 54,065; Increase:
4,791 — Indians This Year 4,501; Last Year 4,209; Increase: 292 — Total This
Year: 418,927; [1] Last Year: 382,520 — Increase: 36,407 — Preachers This
Year: 1,642; Last Year: 1,576; Increase: 66.
1829
We have before alluded to a controversy which arose between us and some
other denominations of Christians; and as it came to its height during this
and the two following years, that the reader may have a clear and full
understanding of its character and results, it is thought expedient to give
a short account of it in this place. It has been before remarked, that for a
long time after our establishment in this country, very little was done to
enlighten the public mind from our press, except the republication of some
of Wesley’s and Fletcher’s sermons, Checks, and tracts, and the biographies
of a few eminent servants of God. But in 1818 the Methodist Magazine was
resumed and in 1826 the Christian Advocate and Journal made its appearance.
The extensive circulation of these two periodicals, and the publication of
numerous tracts, of a doctrinal, experimental, and practical character, and
the continual augmentation of books on a variety of subjects, together with
the prosperous state of our missions in various parts of our country, seemed
to awaken the attention of others, and to call forth strictures upon our
doctrines and general economy, of such a character as called for defense on
our part.
Another thing seemed to put us in somewhat of an awkward position before the
public. The organization of a separate sabbath school for the Methodist
Episcopal Church made it necessary to provide means to supply our schools
with suitable books. This led to the preparation and publication of sabbath
school books from our own press; but as Bibles and Testaments formed the
principal basis of sabbath school instruction, and as the American Bible
Society was an institution in which all denominations were supposed to have
an equal interest, it was thought that we had a right to claim a share from
that society, in Bibles and Testaments, for the use of our Sunday schools.
We accordingly petitioned the “Young Men’s Bible Society” of the city of New
York, which had been constituted for the express purpose of supplying
sabbath schools gratuitously with the Holy Scriptures, and to which the
Methodists, as well as others, contributed, for a supply of Bibles and
Testaments for the use of our sabbath schools but our petition was rejected,
merely because, as was stated by the secretary of that society, we were
sectarians, and therefore came not within the legitimate range of their
charities.
This rejection of our petition compelled us, either to suffer our schools to
languish for want of suitable books, or to devise ways and means to supply
them from our own resources; and hence a proposition for forming a separate
Bible Society was submitted to the General Conference of 1828, and the
conference recommended its organization in the city of New York. In
conformity with this recommendation, the Bible Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church was formed, with the view of obtaining a supply of Bibles
and Testaments for our sabbath schools, and for the poor members of our own
congregations. This separate organization, together with the steps which led
to it, provoked no little opposition from various quarters, particularly
from writers in the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches, by whom our
motives, being misunderstood, were misrepresented. These things tended to
keep alive the spirit of controversy. And as religious newspapers were now
very generally patronized by the several Christian denominations, and agents
employed for the several societies now in operation were traveling
extensively through the country, each one zealous for his own sect, many
things were written and published in those periodicals, implicating our
character, impugning our motives, denouncing our doctrines and usages, and
calculated to bring our institutions into contempt.
As Dr. Adam Clarke’s Commentary had obtained an extensive circulation, and
Wesley’s translation of the New Testament, accompanied with his notes, was
also published and circulated by our Book Concern, an attempt was made by a
writer in the west, and his efforts were seconded by several editors of the
periodical press, to bring these two writers into disrepute, by endeavoring
to prove that they had altered, with a view to sustain their peculiar
tenets, the sacred text, and thereby corrupted the word of God. As this was
a heavy charge, and, if sustained, must impeach their moral character and
Christian integrity, it was considered no more than a sacred duty we owed to
their characters, and to the Church which delighted to honor them, to rescue
their memories from this undeserved reproach.
Indeed, we had reason to suspect that there was a combination among certain
sects, if possible, to destroy our influence. This we inferred from the
fact, that the presses under the control of Calvinistic editors, in
different parts of the country, almost simultaneously uttered the same
language against Methodism, without at all mitigating the severity of their
censures by an acknowledgment of the good we had been instrumental in
accomplishing. The Christian Spectator, a Quarterly Review conducted by an
association of gentlemen connected with Yale College, in a “Review on the
Economy of Methodism,” commenced a rude and unprovoked attack upon our
doctrine, discipline, and general economy, which was copied into other
papers, accompanied with remarks as hostile to our Church, as they were
untrue and unkind. This systematical and simultaneous attack upon us as a
church was conducted with unsparing severity, and led us to conclude that a
war was commenced upon our economy, as unjustifiable as it might be
injurious in its results. Indeed, it was by no means confined to
argumentative assaults upon our doctrines and usages, but the character of
our ministers was assailed, their motives impugned, and they were
represented as even hostile to the civil institutions of the country, and
also of exercising a lordly despotism over the consciences of our own
people.
Let us, however, classify these objections, and notice the answers to them.
1. Dr. Adam Clarke was accused of introducing into his Commentary
unauthorized criticisms upon the original text.
To this it was answered, that he scrupulously followed, throughout, the
present authorized version; and if at any time he dissented from it, he very
modestly did it in his notes, assigning his reasons, and leaving every
reader to judge for himself of the correctness of his opinions. But even
allowing that he had altered the common English Version in some obscure
places, with a view to render the text more intelligible, he did but follow
the example of such men as Campbell, Houbigant, Macknight, and others, most
of whom were Calvinistic commentators. This, therefore, was a groundless
accusation, only calculated to raise the popular prejudice against Dr.
Clarke, for the purpose of circumscribing his usefulness as a most able and
pious commentator of the Holy Scriptures.
2. Wesley also was accused of mutilating the sacred text in such a glaring
manner as to make “nonsense of some of the plainest texts in the Bible,” and
several instances were adduced to sustain this heavy charge. And as this
controversy may be revived at some future time, or may be referred to in an
unfavorable point of light, I think it proper to insert here the answer to
these objections to Mr. Wesley’s translation of the New Testament. It is as
follows: — -
“The following texts are produced by the Religious Intelligencer, to show
that Wesley ‘has made nonsense of some of the plainest texts in the
Bible:’
JOHN 6:64
COMMON VERSION: — But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew
from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray
him.
WESLEY’S ALTERATION: — But there are some of you who believe not. (For Jesus
had known from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who would
not betray him.)
ACTS 4:27, 28
COMMON VERSION: — For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou
hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the
people of Israel. were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and
thy counsel determined before to be done.
WESLEY’S ALTERATION: — For of a truth both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with
the Gentiles and people of Israel, were gathered together against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, to do whatsoever thy hand and thy
counsel before determined to be done.
JUDE 4
COMMON VERSION: — For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were
before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace
of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and Our Lord
Jesus Christ.
WESLEY’S ALTERATION: — For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were
of old described before, with regard to this condemnation, ungodly men,
turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only
Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
REV. 22:19
COMMON VERSION: — And if any man shall take away from the words of the book
of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and
out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
WESLEY’S ALTERATION: — And if any man shall take away from the words of the
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part of the tree of life, and
the holy city, which are written in this book.
1 PET. 1:19, 20
COMMON VERSION: — But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb
without blemish and without spot; who Verily was foreordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
WESLEY’S ALTERATION: — But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb
without blemish and without spot; who verily was foreknown before the
foundation of the world. but was made in the last times for you.
“Now whether Wesley’s translation be more in accordance with the original or
not, we believe it is at least equally plain, and easy to be understood.
“In respect to the first cited text, the chief difference is in the last
clause, ‘and who would not betray him,’ though even this is very far from
making ‘nonsense.’ Having never noticed this variation before we saw it
produced in the Charleston Observer, we were not a little surprised that it
should exist. To ascertain whether Mr. Wesley so translated the passage —
knowing that the original would not admit of it — we searched the different
editions of his Testament, with notes, and the result is that it is a mere
typographical error. In the English edition, printed in London in the year
1795, the negative particle (not) is not found. Neither is it found in the
American edition, containing his notes, which was printed in the year 1812
— three years before the Testament which contains the error was printed.
“In regard to the second and following passages, we wonder not that our
Calvinistic friends are offended at the version made by Mr. Wesley, for some
of them strike at the root of the peculiarities of their creed. To be
satisfied whether Wesley can be justified in his translation, it is
necessary to examine the original Greek text.
“In the first mentioned text, ‘For of a truth both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and people of Israel, were gathered together against thy
holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed to do whatsoever thy hand and thy
counsel before determined to be done,’ although the difference is very
considerable, we think Mr. Wesley is fully sustained by the original text.
The Greek verb “poiasai” is in the infinitive mood, and therefore may agree
with either Herod, Pontius Pilate, &c., or with the singular, thy holy child
Jesus. Allowing this to be correct, it does not follow that the inspired
penman meant to say that those wicked people were gathered together to do
what the hand and counsel of God before determined should be done; but that
it was ‘the holy child Jesus whom God had anointed to do’ what he had before
the foundation of the world determined he should do, for the redemption and
salvation of mankind.
“The whole context requires this interpretation, we will not say to prevent
its speaking ‘nonsense,’ but from speaking blasphemy. According to the
present rendering and the Calvinistic interpretation of the text, it is
brought to prove that Herod, Pontius Pilate, and the people of Israel who
clamored for the life of Christ, in all their wicked and blasphemous
conduct, did nothing more than fulfill the eternal and unalterable counsel
and will of God! The reader may now see the reason why our Calvinistic
friends are so exceedingly displeased with John Wesley, merely because he
has so rendered this text that we need not necessarily infer that all this
evil conduct of the persecutors and murderers of Jesus Christ was according
to the predetermination of God — although in doing so he has only followed
the Greek text, by preserving the infinitive form of the verb “poiasai,” to
do; — whereas had he done otherwise he might justly have been accused, as we
shall presently see Beza may be, of corrupting the text. Although it does
not appear from his comment on the passage that Wesley made the
transposition from a conviction that it materially affected the sense, yet
the zeal of his opposers seems to be kindled into a flame whenever such an
interpretation is given, however fairly, which goes to question their
favorite theory respecting God’s having determined, and as now influencing,
men to all their sinful actions.
“We said that the context requires that the text should be so construed as
to attribute the works which God had before determined should be done, to
Jesus Christ, and not to Herod and his wicked associates. Those who ‘lifted
up their voice’ on this occasion said, quoting from the second Psalm, ‘The
kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against
the Lord.’ Now if those infatuated people were acting against the Lord, how
could they at the same time be fulfilling his counsel and will? Do people
fulfill the counsel of the Lord in acting against him? And must they be
consigned to eternal burnings for thus acting? This would be a hard case
indeed.
“Look also at the 29th and 30th verses, — ‘And now, Lord, behold their
threatenings; and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may
speak thy word, by stretching forth thy hand to heal; and that signs and
wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.’ The true state of
the case appears to be this: God had ordained that when Jesus Christ should
be manifested in the flesh, in addition to his dying for the sins of the
world, ’signs and wonders should be done’ by him; that he should ’stretch
forth his hand to heal’ the sick, to restore sight to the blind, raise the
dead, &c; for this purpose he had been anointed, that he might do the things
thus before determined in the eternal counsel should be done; and hence the
apostles, after stating that Herod and his wicked associates had gathered
together to oppose the Lord’s anointed, and to frustrate this gracious
determination of God, pray that as their malevolent attempts had been so far
defeated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that even now
’signs and wonders’ may be done; that thus a full demonstration may be given
to all that Jesus is the Christ, the true Messiah promised in the Old
Testament.
“It is probably on account of the manifest absurdities involved in the
contrary supposition, that led Episcopius and many other commentators to
adopt a similar construction to that of Wesley’s. And to show that Wesley is
by no means singular in his translation, we may observe that the French
version of the New Testament, ‘printed from the London stereotype edition,
and according to the edition of Paris for the year 1805, said to be
‘reviewed and compared with the Hebrew and Greek texts,’ and ‘printed under
the inspection of the New York Bible Society, renders this text precisely as
Wesley has done. The following is the translation
“‘Car en effet Herode et Ponce Pilate, avec les Gentils et le peuple
d’Israel, se sont assembles contre ton saint Fils Jesus, que tu as oint,
Pour faire toutes les choses que ta main et ton conseil avoient auparavant
determine’ devoir etre faites.’ It will be perceived by those who understand
the French, that the translators have transposed the sentences in the same
manner that Wesley has done, preserved the infinitive form of the verb
“poiasai,” by rendering it ‘pour faire,’ to do, and connected it closely
with the nonn, ‘ton saint Fils Jesus,’ “thy holy on Jesus,” thereby allowing
us to refer the works to be done to Jesus Christ, and not necessarily to his
enemies who were gathered together against him.
“The Latin version of Montanus follows the common English version, and
preserves the infinitive form of the verb, Facere quaecumque, “to do”
whatsoever, &c.
“It is somewhat singular that Beza, to whom we referred in our former number
as having been accused by the indefatigable Macknight of corrupting the
sacred text to support his own contracted Calvinistic views, in the
translation of the passage under consideration, has changed the form of the
verb from the infinitive to the subjunctive plural, (facerent,) with a view
to make it agree exclusively with Herod, Pontius Pilate, and the people of
Israel!
“Beza also introduces a clause — which, to be sure, is not of much
consequence, either way — into his version not found at all in the common
Greek text, in hoc civitate, ‘in this city.’ The following is his
translation of the two verses under consideration . —
“‘Coacti sunt enim in hac civitate vere adversus sanctum Filium tuum Jesum
quem unxisti, Herodes et Pontius Pilatus cum Gentibus et populis Israelis,
Ut facerent quaecumque manus tua et consilium tuum prius definierat ut
fierent.’ By thus rendering the verb in the plural number, making it to
agree only with a plural nominative, Beza’s translation amounts to a comment
on the text, which, to those who understand no other language than the
Latin, is a manifest deception. We grant, indeed, that the grammatical
construction of the sentence, as the infinitive mood of the verb may agree
with either a singular or plural noun, does not necessarily require our
interpretation or the contrary, but leaves the reader to adopt that which
from the context appears most agreeable to the analogy of faith; and this
consideration makes the conduct of Beza the more censurable; it is the same
as if any one on the opposite side should render the passage thus — Thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou host anointed that he might do the things thy hand
and counsel before determined should be done; — and although we believe this
is the genuine sense, we are far from thinking ourselves warranted in taking
such liberties with the sacred text. However Calvinistically inclined our
English translators may have been, they did not feel themselves authorized
to follow Beza’s translation, but have given a literal rendering of the verb
“poiasai,” to do.
“Now could Wesley be convicted of such rashness as Beza was guilty of, his
enemies might well triumph. But Beza was a Calvinist. and therefore, in the
estimation of his followers, who approve of his translation, he may be
considered guiltless. Perhaps they may think that, being of the elect, God
did not ‘behold iniquity in’ him; but poor John Wesley, being an Arminian
reprobate, must have his name blotted from the book of life! For what, think
you, gentle reader? For altering the sacred Scriptures? No, surely. This he
never did; but for abjuring Calvinism — for taking off the mask by which its
modest friends had endeavored to conceal its haggard visage. This is his sin
— the offense for which he is now so severely castigated.
“But whatever corrections Mr. Wesley may have introduced in his version, we
are persuaded that they do not affect, in the smallest degree, any
fundamental doctrine of Christianity. To this sentiment we think all will
subscribe except those who believe that the distinctive feature of
Calvinism, namely, unconditional predestination, comprehending unconditional
election and reprobation, is a fundamental doctrine.
“And although some have affirmed, in the heat of controversy, that unless we
believe that doctrine according to the Calvinistic interpretation, we cannot
be in a state of grace, yet we can scarcely persuade ourselves that any one,
in his calm and sober moments, I say that all who demur at receiving this
doctrine, thus explained, must inevitably be condemned at last. If any
should assume such a position, we should despair of reasoning with him with
any hope of success.
“When we speak of fundamental doctrines, we mean those by which the
Christian system is eminently distinguished from all other systems of
religion; but more especially the fall and depravity of man; the redemption
of the world by the atoning merits of Jesus Christ; the necessity of
regeneration by the Holy Spirit; holiness of heart and life, and all those
collateral truths which are connected with or necessarily accompany these
doctrines. Now if any man will show us a single text in Wesley’s translation
which invalidates, or in the smallest degree weakens any one of these
essential truths of Jesus Christ, or strikes at his real Godhead, or at the
unity in trinity of the Deity, we will in that particular abandon him as our
leader; we will believe in that instance he was under a mistake, and that he
deserves the severe criticisms and censures of his adversaries.
“Believing that we shall not be called upon to controvert this point with
our polemical friends, we proceed to notice the other texts which have been
produced to prove that Wesley has made ‘nonsense of some of the plainest
texts of the Bible.’ The first in order is,
Jude 4
COMMON VERSION — For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were
before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace
of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord
Jesus Christ.
WESLEY’S TRANSLATION — For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were
of old described before, with regard to this condemnation, ungodly men,
turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only
Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
“Now we presume that the material words in Wesley’s translation to which our
opponents in this controversy object, are, ‘of old described before,’ which
Wesley has substituted for ‘of old ordained,’ in the common version; which
is much nearer the original than the other.
The Greek text reads, “oi pulai progegrammenoi,” the most literal
translation of which would be, ‘of old before written;’ for the word
“progegrammenoi” is derived from “pro,” before, and “grapho,” to write, or
“gramma,” a letter or character of writing; though some have supposed that
it means here, before proscribed, believing that the apostle meant to say
that the ungodly characters he was about describing assimilated in their
character and conduct to those ungodly persons who had long since, in the
sacred writings, been proscribed and condemned. Whichever of these meanings
may be put on the word here, it cannot be made to mean foreordained, as the
word justly so translated has an entirely different meaning, and comes from
a totally different root. The word which the lexicons and our translators
have rendered foreordained, comes from “proopizō,” and this from “pro,”
before, and “opizō,” to bound, limit, or decree, and hence the compound word
signifies to limit, bound, or decree beforehand, or, as very properly
translated in the sacred Scriptures, to foreordain, or before appoint.
“Macknight, whom we have before quoted, and who was a professed Calvinistic
minister in the Church of Scotland, gives the following translation of this
passage: ‘Who long ago have been before written.’ His comment upon the
passage is thus: ‘Jude means that those wicked people had their punishment
before written, that is, foretold in what is written concerning the
Sodomites and rebellions Israelites, whose crimes were the same as theirs,
and whose punishment was not only a proof of God’s resolution to punish
sinners, but an example of the punishment which he will inflict on them.
According to some, the words have an allusion to the ancient custom of
writing laws on tables, which were hung up in public places, that the people
might know the punishment annexed to breaking the laws.’
“To this rendering of Macknight the French version agrees: ‘Dont la
condemnation est escrite depuis longtems,’ — whose condemnation has been
written a long time since.
“The Latin version of Montanus, which usually accompanies Leusden’s Greek
Testament, translates — ‘Olim praescripti in hoc judicium,’ the literal
English of which is, “of old before written, or described,” which is a
faithful translation of the Greek, and a justification of the version of
Wesley.
“It is somewhat of a singular coincidence, that in this passage Wesley and
Beza exactly agree in their translation; so that if Wesley has had his name
blotted from the book of life for altering the sacred Scriptures in this
place, he will be in the company of one of the leading champions of the
Calvinistic forces. Beza translates, ‘prius jam olim descripti ad hanc
damnationem,’ ‘before of old described to this damnation.’
“None of the versions, indeed, to which we have had access, except our
English translation, have rendered the word in question ordained; and we may
say with Dr. Adam Clarke, that it is as ridiculous as it is absurd to look
into such words for a decree of eternal reprobation, &c., such a doctrine
being as far from the apostle’s mind, as that of Him in whose name he
wrote.’
“As to the text in Rev. xxii, 19, the only material deviation from the
common version is, that Wesley translates, ‘his part of the tree of life,’
and the common version, the ‘book of life;’ and how this can affect the
meaning at all we are at a loss to see, as the person who has not his part
in the tree of life, will hardly have his name in the book of life. Wesley,
however, is sustained by Griesbach, who gives the word “xulon,” tree, as the
true reading, referring to the margin for the word “biblon,” as being
according to the commonly received text. We trust, therefore, that neither
justice nor candor requires Wesley to be condemned for this emendation,
especially as it does not at all affect the sense, and is justified by so
high an authority as Griesbach.
“The only remaining text to be examined is 1 Peter i, 20, where Wesley
translates the word “proegnōsmenou,” foreknown, instead of foreordained, as
it is in the common version. On this we need not say much, as the merest
tyro [beginner, novice] in the Greek language knows that this is the
literal, grammatical meaning of the word; and that there is no more
authority for rendering it foreordained, than there is for saying that
because I know that this rendering of Mr. Wesley is accurate, I therefore
decreed it; for the radix [origin] for the above word, “ginōskō,” signifies
to know, and can never be made to mean to ordain, or decree.
Is it not a little strange, that those Calvinists who contend that there is
so slight a difference between foreknowledge and decree, that the one
necessarily implies the other, should so vehemently reprimand Wesley for
giving the literal translation of this word? If there be no difference
between knowledge and decree, as they contend, how has Wesley altered the
meaning of Scripture, even allowing that the original word here had been
“proorizō”, which it is not, by translating it foreknown?”
3. Not only were the characters of Wesley and Clarke thus ungenerously
assailed, but the integrity of our ministry also was called in question. The
Christian Spectator had said, “Nor can we here so much as begin to speak of
the misrepresentations, and the many cunningly devised artifices, by which
the doctrine and discipline of Methodism are so assiduously propagated.”
This, indeed, was a grievous accusation. But how did they attempt its
support? How! Why, by merely vague conjectures. It was wittingly surmised
that we had immense funds at our command, by which our ministry was
supported independently of the people; that even these funds were so
dexterously managed that our own people themselves did not know; being kept
in ignorance by our “cunningly devised artifices,” either their extent or
application. This unfounded and cruel charge was met, refuted, and fully put
down, by an appeal to facts. It was demonstrated that the funds of the
Church — derived, as was alleged, from the Book Concern and Chartered Fund
— so far from being immense, did not yield over three dollars a year to each
claimant; and that those supernumerary and superannuated preachers, widows,
their children and orphans, who were the legal claimants upon these funds,
did not receive, including what they derived from the voluntary
contributions of the people, over 25, 50, or seventy-five percent of that
which was allowed them by the Discipline, which was one hundred dollars for
such preacher or widow, and not over twenty-four dollars a year for each
dependent child; and that, so far from concealing from the people either the
amount of the revenues of the Church, or their application, the whole was
annually published in the Minutes of our conferences.
This complete refutation of such a groundless charge seemed to silence our
inconsiderate opponents, and to make their friends ashamed of their temerity
in bringing it against us in so public a manner.
4. Another complaint was brought against the manner in which our Church
property was held. It was alleged that it was deeded to the General
Conference, and that therefore the people had neither a right in nor control
over it. To this it was replied, that the statement was false in point of
fact. Church property, instead of being secured to the conference, and
therefore the property of the preachers, was held by trustees appointed by
the people — where the laws of the states in which the property was located
provided for that manner of their appointment, and in other places as the
Discipline of the Church directs — in trust for the use of the members of
the Methodist Episcopal Church in that place. This, it was justly contended,
placed the legal right of the property where it should be, in the hands of
the people, and not in the conference, as our accusers had asserted.
5. Our mode of Church government was represented, not only as unscriptural,
but as being set up and vindicated in “contempt of Scripture authority.”
This led to a Scriptural defense of our Church government, of our
itinerancy, and general method of conducting our affairs; and finally to a
comparison between Methodist Episcopacy and Presbyterianism and
Congregationalism, as well as a defense of our entire economy. [2]
6. Another subject of controversy arose out of the representations of the
state of things in the valley of the Mississippi. We have before noticed the
origin of the society for the education of pious young men for the gospel
ministry. Out of this arose the “American Home Missionary Society,” which
was organized in 1826. This society was composed of members and friends of
the Presbyterian, Dutch Reformed, and Congregational Churches, and as
altogether a voluntary association; that is, it was not a church
organization, not being recognized as the exclusive property of any
particular denomination, nor under the control of its church judicatories.
And as the missionaries who were in the employ of this society were taken
from either or all of the above-mentioned denominations, they were
instructed to form churches according to the principles of either the
Presbyterian or Congregational plan of church government, as might best suit
the people; and to give greater efficiency to their labors, and a wider
range to their operations, a “Plan of Union” was formed between these two
denominations, so as to admit commissioners into the General Assembly from
those churches which might be established on Congregational principles.
Comprehending these three large denominations in this society, under the
name of American Home Missionary Society, its patrons gave it the name of a
national institution, as though in it were represented the Christianity of
America. To this assumption of a national society, we of course, entered our
protest because it was calculated to mislead the public mind, especially in
foreign countries. To say nothing of the Baptists, who were more numerous
than either of the above denominations, the Protestant Episcopalians, the
Lutherans, and numerous other sects, all of whom were exerting less or more
influence in favor of Christianity, the Methodists were more numerous than
either. It seemed, therefore, unjust to select a single society, made up of
those three denominations, which represented not one fourth of the
Christians in the United States, and call it a national society, thereby
accounting all the others as nothing.
We had other objections. This society, by assuming a national character, was
contrary to the genius of American institutions, which acknowledged no
national religion. It seemed, therefore, like an effort to force public
opinion to recognize the existence of a national church, in direct
opposition to the declared intention of all our civil institutions.
This assumption of a national society, together with the avowed intentions
of some of the reports of the American Sabbath School Union, respecting the
circulation of their books, and the influence which it might have upon our
state and general elections, excited an alarm in some minds, lest
comprehensive plans were forming to secure the patronage of the state for
the support of those denominations which were committed for the support of
this society. And though this might have been a groundless alarm. it tended
to awaken attention to the subject, and led other denominations to look
about them, and watch over the welfare of their own institutions. And it is
somewhat remarkable, that the very measures which were taken by this society
to combine so many discordant materials in the range of their operations,
and to make an impression abroad of the nationality of its character, should
have led eventually to the dissolution of the union of the Presbyterian
Church; for there can be no doubt that the Plan of Union,” by which that
church permitted Congregational principles to become incorporated into their
judicatories, was the entering wedge which finally split that church
asunder; so that the means adopted to make themselves great, and to impress
upon the minds of others that they represented the religion of the nation,
were the very means of lessening their number and influence, and of creating
one other instead of combining three into one sect.
But the means used by those missionaries who were sent out by this society
to enlist the sympathies of the church and the public mind in favor of their
vast project gave great and very just offense. At the time of the
organization of this society, a periodical was commenced, under its
immediate patronage and control, called the “Home Missionary and Pastor’s
Journal,” in which the reports of these missionaries were, from time to
time, published. These reporters very often gave such a description of the
moral wastes and religious destitution of the countries where they traveled,
as was truly alarming to the real friends of the country and of
Christianity. On examination, it was found that many of those places which
were thus represented as entirely destitute of the gospel, had been
regularly supplied for years by our ministry, and that there existed in them
large and flourishing societies. The fact was, that our ministers had
penetrated every part of that country, had kept pace with the progress of
the new settlements, had gone to the Indian tribes, hundreds of whom had
been converted to the Christian faith, and had carried the glad tidings of
salvation to the black population of the south and southwest, entering every
open door, and preaching the gospel to all to whom they could have access.
Yet these were represented as being totally destitute of the gospel and of
Christian ordinances. These things were thought to be unjust and
unchristian, as well as unwise and impolitic. We therefore considered it a
duty which we owed to ourselves to expose them, and to enter our protest
against them. This was done, principally, through the columns of the
Christian Advocate and Journal, both by the editors, and those
correspondents who were on the spot, and who therefore spoke from what they
had seen and felt. And so palpable were the facts, that few undertook to
justify the proceedings of these missionaries. Indeed, their own friends
became convinced of the impolicy of such statements, and advised them to
refrain; and hence, instead of saying that there were no ministers, they
afterward reported that there were no Presbyterian ministers in such and
such a place. To this manner of reporting there could be no objections.
The following extract from the Christian Advocate and Journal for this year
will show how these objections were met and refuted: —
“Every year, from the time that Schemerhorn and Mills made their missionary
tour to the west and south, and published their famous journal of
observation, the thrilling note of complaint has been heard echoing from one
end of the continent to another, about the paucity of ‘educated
ministers,’ ‘competent ministers,’ &c., and the people have been called upon
in no ordinary strains of mournful eloquence to exert themselves to
replenish the funds of education societies, that the number of these
ministers might be speedily increased; that the nation, to adopt the
language of the Rev. Dr. Beecher, might ‘arise and save itself by its own
energies.’ To keep up the stimulus thus excited, — to continue the language
of the last cited author, — ‘the trumpet must sound long and press must
groan,’ and utter in the ears of our countrymen the story of their miseries,
or the ‘nation is undone.’ And from the time this note of alarm was sounded
by Dr. Beecher, it has continued rolling through our country, until the
doleful ditty of the ‘moral desolations of the vast valley of the
Mississippi’ has reverberated from hill to valley, with a sickening
repetition. Yes, this fertile numerous, valley, where, besides the Baptists,
who are the Protestant Episcopalians, and other denominations, we have no
less than seven annual conferences, composed, according to the Minutes for
1829, of 516 traveling preachers, and probably more than twice that number
of local preachers, and 128,316 church members, has been, and is still,
represented as being in such a fearful state, that unless mighty exertions
are made to replenish the funds of the national societies, it is apprehended
that such a swelling tide of immorality will flow back, and cross the
Alleghenies, as to sweep away pure religion from the Atlantic states and
every succeeding year, from that time to this, our ears are stunned with the
deafening cry, ‘The treasury is empty!’ ‘the committee are in advance’ for
so many hundreds or thousands of dollars. To add energy to this voice of
distress, all other ministers are deposed as ‘incompetent,’ ‘uneducated,’
‘inefficient.’ To say nothing respecting the truth or falsity of these
statements, we would ask whether it is becoming in gentlemen who utter this
doleful cry of distress, with a view to replenish their exhausted
treasuries, while it would seem that their funds are already so great that
some think that the people ought to be warned against lavishing any more
into their hands, to accuse us of accumulating funds dangerous to the
state?”
It is by no means intended to say that there was no call for additional
laborers either here or elsewhere. No doubt there were many moral wastes,
both in the west and in the east, in the populous cities, in the villages,
and country places, which needed the reforming influence of the gospel, and
more active laborers to effect it. We could therefore have no objection to
an increase of zealous and holy ministers. Our objections were to the
unwillingness manifested to acknowledge the gospel character and labors of
others, and to recognize the good which had been most evidently effected by
them, and particularly by the self-denying exertions of our ministry in the
western country. Indeed, in many of these reports there seemed to be a
desire manifested to depreciate those who had long since planted the gospel
in those very places now represented as destitute, and where our preachers
had labored with great success, amid hardships and privations to which few
were willing to submit; and these things are here recorded, that those who
shall come after us may know to whom they are indebted for the first
promulgation of the gospel in our western wilds.
It is believed that this discussion did good. At any rate, it tended to
enlighten the public mind on these subjects, to make our doctrines, usages,
labors, and success, more generally known and more justly appreciated, and
thus strengthened the hands and cheered the hearts of the members and
friends of our Church. It tended likewise to convince our opponents, that if
they presumed to misrepresent or to slander us, we had the means of
self-defense, and an ability and disposition to use them; and that when the
facts were clearly stated, our doctrines and manner of propagating them
fully explained, we should not be considered such dangerous heresiarchs as
we had been represented to be. We are glad know, however, that these days of
strife are past, and that a more friendly and amicable spirit prevails. We
hope, therefore, that hereafter we may mutually strive only to provoke one
another to love and good works.”
Another subject was agitated about this time which gave no little
uneasiness, and occasioned much discussion. I allude to the Temperance
reformation. The American Temperance Society had commenced its powerful
operations in 1826, and was now doing much good to the souls and bodies of
men both in and out of’ the churches. A proposition had been submitted to us
to unite with that society, and on such terms as we did not think it
expedient to accept. It was proposed to raise a permanent fund of twenty
thousand dollars for the support of an agent or agents, who should be
exclusively devoted to the temperance cause. To this it was objected,
because it was thought that a permanent fund was unnecessary for the success
of the enterprise, as the money needed to carry it forward might be better
raised as it should be wanted. It was moreover urged that we had always been
a temperance society, having made abstinence from intoxicating liquors as a
beverage a term of church communion and therefore to come into the measures
of the American Society would be a virtual acknowledgment that we, as a
church, needed such a reformation.
This occasioned no little discussion, and gave rise to some heart-burnings
on both sides of the question. By some, whose zeal was not always tempered
with knowledge, it was contended that, because we did not unite in the
society, and co-operate with it in all its plans and movements, we were
opposed to the cause of temperance itself, and therefore stood in the way of
its success. To this it was replied, that being already the friends and
advocates of temperance, having, as a church, recognized the practice of
total abstinence from intoxicating liquors as a common drink, it was unjust
to accuse us of a want of friendship for the men engaged in this enterprise
of benevolence, or of zeal in promoting their objects.
This was the true state of the controversy; but the manner in which it was
conducted elicited facts and brought forth light which had been dormant, or
had not been perceived for though it had been made it a term of church
communion by one of our general rules, it was found, on a closer inspection,
that the rule itself had been softened down, and that in many instances even
this had been suffered to remain as a dead letter. In consequence of these
things, it was clearly discovered that members of our own Church were in the
daily habit using intoxicating liquors, and that the Discipline, at best,
had been but partially enforced. This discovery led to important results.
For though our opinion remained unchanged respecting the inexpediency of
some of the measures of the American Temperance Society, particularly as
regarded raising a permanent fund, yet the necessity of the reformation,
even in our own Church, notwithstanding our prohibitory rule, became very
apparent. Hence temperance societies were formed, and our preachers and
people very generally fell in with the temperance measures, greatly to the
edification and benefit of the Church, and to the cause of God generally.
In noticing this subject, I am very desirous of correcting an error
respecting the course taken by the official organ of the Church, the
Christian Advocate and Journal, then under the editorial control of the
writer of this History. It was alleged frequently, and is sometimes even
repeated now, that the paper opposed the cause of temperance. This was and
is a sad mistake. It never, intentionally at least, opposed either the
principles or practice of temperance. It did oppose some of the measures of
the American Temperance Society, and advised our brethren and friends not to
contribute their money to raise the contemplated fund; but its opposition
was directed chiefly to the misrepresentations which were made of our real
position, namely, that we were enemies to temperance, merely because we
pleaded that our Church had favored the principles and practice of
temperance from the beginning, and therefore had no motive to join the
American Society.
This is the ground we took. And though afterward convinced we were in error
in supposing that the strict principles of temperance were generally
exemplified in practice by all the members of our Church, and therefore lent
our aid to exterminate the evil from among us, yet we remain unchanged in
our views respecting the impolicy of some of the measures of the American
Temperance Society, while we hail with delight the onward march of the
temperance reformation. And if any of our sayings or measures were construed
into opposition to this reformation at the time, through misapprehension or
otherwise, we think sufficient has been said and done since to convince all
candid and unbiased minds of the rectitude and consistency of our course;
and I here record my most solemn conviction that the temperance cause should
be ranked among the most benevolent and efficient means now in use for the
benefit of mankind. And this is recorded with the more pleasure from the
fact that John Wesley was the first in modern days to proclaim a war of
extermination upon the use of all intoxicating liquors, “except in cases of
extreme necessity.”
The Oneida mission was commenced this year. This tribe of Indians were
settled on an Indian reservation in the western part of the state of New
York. They had been partially civilized, and some of them were cultivators
of the soil, and had adopted the habits of civilized life. Though the
Protestant Episcopalians had had a mission among them for several years,
they were in a deplorable state as to religion and morals. Like most of the
semi-civilized barbarians who skirted our states and territories, they were
deeply debased by habits of intoxication, and all those degrading vices,
which connect themselves with a course of intemperance. By these means,
instead of being in a thriving condition, they were diminishing in numbers,
and deteriorating in property and morals.
In this state they were when visited by a young man of the Mohawks, of Upper
Canada. This man had been converted in the revival which had taken place
among that tribe of Indians, and was now impelled by his thirst for the
salvation of others to make known the way of peace and reconciliation to
these people. Being able to speak to them of the things of God in their own
language, and from his own experience, they received the tidings with
penitent and believing hearts, and a work of reformation commenced among
them, which eventuated in the conversion of upward of one hundred. A school
was also established for the education of the children, and those adult
Indians who were desirous of learning. This good work has steadily gone on
to this day, and a number of the converted Indians have emigrated to Green
Bay, who became the nucleus of a flourishing society in that place.
Through the example and teachings of these people, the Onondagas, a
neighboring tribe, received the gospel, and twenty-four of them were
converted to God and brought into church fellowship.
Several other missions were commenced this year in the new and destitute
settlements in our western regions. St. Joseph’s mission embraced a tract of
country on the St. Joseph’s river, which flows into Lake Michigan in Berrien
county, Michigan. Among these new settlers the missionary found his way, and
conveyed to them the glad tidings of salvation, and was instrumental in
establishing several societies, which have continued to increase and
flourish to this day.
In the frontier settlements of the states of Indiana and Illinois, on the
waters of the Fox river, between that river and the lake Winnebago, the Rev.
Jesse Walker, one of our old and experienced preachers, was sent as a
missionary. Into this new and thinly settled country he penetrated, and
succeeded in establishing several societies, and opening the way for the
continued preaching of the gospel in that new country.
The country on the head waters of the Wabash was fast filling up with
inhabitants from the older states, and therefore greatly needed the gospel.
Hence a mission was commenced this year for the benefit of these people; and
the missionary, the Rev. S. R. Beggs, so far succeeded, that through his and
the labors of his successors, in 1831 there were returned one hundred and
forty-six Church members.
Galena mission was begun this year. This was in the state of Illinois, on
the banks of Fever or Bean river, upward of four hundred miles above St.
Louis. Though Galena has since become a considerable town and a seat of
justice, in the midst of the rich lead mines in that region, yet, at the
time of which we now speak, it was but thinly settled, and its resources
were just beginning to be known and appreciated. Though the people were
generally so taken up in their speculating concerns — the mines presenting a
fascinating temptation for obtaining wealth — as to manifest much
indifference for religious things, yet a few were brought to the knowledge
of the truth, and the cause has continued to advance steadily from that day
to this.
Another mission, called Providence, was opened this year in the new
settlements on both banks of the Mississippi river, from Vicksburgh to Lake
Washington, and the adjacent settlement along the bayous and little lakes.
The nature of the country and the condition of the settlers were such as to
require great labor and many privations to carry the gospel to them. The
self-denying exertions of God’s servants, however, were owned and blessed,
so that in 1832 there were returned on the Minutes one hundred and sixty-six
members, sixty-seven of whom were colored, and the good work has prospered
from that time onward.
We have already noticed the exertions that were making in behalf of seamen,
and particularly the establishment of the Mariners’ Church in the city of
New York. The example thus set excited benevolent Christians to adopt
similar plans in other places for the melioration and salvation of this
class of our fellow-citizens. Accordingly, about this time, the “Boston Port
Society” was organized, and the Rev. Edward T. Taylor — who, before his
conversion to God, had followed the seas — a member of the New England
conference, was employed to preach to seamen, in the city of Boston. He
commenced his labors this year, under the parsonage of this society, in the
old Methodist meeting-house, the first built in Boston, and which was
afterward purchased for the special use of seamen. Having been accustomed to
the sea-faring life, and now thirsting for the salvation of seamen, Mr.
Taylor was able to sympathize with them in a very peculiar manner, and to
preach to them with energy and effect. And such has been the success of his
labors, that a large and commodious house of worship has been erected, in
which the word of God is preached to these sons of the ocean, a sailors’
boarding-house established, on both of which floats the Bethel flag; — a
clothing store and a school for the education of seamen’s daughters, have
also been opened, as most useful appendages to this institution of
benevolence. A ladies’ society has been organized for the purpose of aiding
in this good work, by furnishing employment to the poorer class of females,
wives and widows of seamen, and the garments thus made are deposited in the
store, sold to those who are able to pay for them, or given away to such as
are most indigent.
This, altogether, is a noble charity; and the wealthy merchants of Boston
know how to appreciate its worth. The manifest improvement, through the
agency of the gospel, in the lives and general deportment of the seamen who
attend the Bethel meeting, convinces all of the beneficial influence of the
institution, and has prompted some individuals to give largely of their
wealth for its support.
The spiritual interests of the congregation, and we may say its temporal
interests too, are mainly intrusted to Mr. Taylor, and he has the
satisfaction to see his house well filled, from sabbath to sabbath, with
attentive hearers, who receive the word with joy; and the serious part of
his hearers, as well as the sailors generally, look up to him with the
utmost affection and confidence. In addition to administering to them the
word and ordinances — for the ordinances of the Church are regularly
attended to — Mr. Taylor is in the habit of visiting the ships in the
harbor, and especially on their arrival, or on the eve of their departure on
a voyage to a foreign port; of praying with them, and furnishing them with
Bibles and tracts, and giving them words of admonition and encouragement.
His congregation is indeed a floating one; and thus., while their pastor is
stationary, they are the means of carrying the word of God to every port,
and of exhibiting the blessed effects of experimental religion wherever
their lot may be cast.
The sailors’ boarding-house connected with the establishment is of great
use, as it is kept on strictly religious and temperance principles, and is
designed as a refuge for them, while on land, from the temptations to those
vicious indulgences so common to this class of men, as well as from the
rapacious grasp of those who delight in cheating them out of their hard
earnings when they come on shore. These “land sharks,” as they have been not
unaptly called, are ever ready to open their jaws whenever a ship arrives,
that they may readily and remorselessly devour the earnings of the
unsuspecting sailor, by presenting to him the intoxicating cup, and enticing
him to haunts of gambling and licentiousness.
That these exertions in favor of seamen have done and are still doing much
good, is evident to all who are acquainted with the extent and influence of
their operations. Instances of most powerful conversions, both on the land
and on the water, have been recorded, and since the temperance reformation
has been pushed forward with so much energy and success, many merchants have
banished the use of inebriating liquors from their ships, greatly to their
own advantage, and to that of those who manage their affairs. By these means
the word of God and religious tracts have been substituted for the gambling
table and the sailor’s grog, and the voice of prayer and thanksgiving has
been heard instead of the voice of profane mirth and revelry, on board many
of our merchant ships. And in some sense many of our seamen have become
missionaries, by carrying the glad tidings of the gospel into the ports they
have visited, thus teaching foreign nations that our God and his Christ are
acknowledged and worshipped even by the hardy sons of the ocean. These
floating Bethels, have therefore become, to some extent, itinerant ministers
to foreign countries; and if the good work shall spread, as it may and will
if suitable means are used, our sailors will become the connecting links
between the several missionary stations in the different parts of the globe.
About this time the general work was much aided by means of what were first
called “four days’ meetings,” and have since been known as “protracted
meetings,” because they were appointed to be held at first for four days,
and afterward for an indefinite length of time, to be determined by the
probabilities of effecting good to the souls of the people. Such meetings,
to be sure, were not new among us. We have before recorded several
instances, in seasons of great revivals, when meetings of this character
were held from three to sixteen days, while the camp meetings were always
continued from four to eight days in succession. But at this time they were
introduced in a more formal manner, and instead of inviting people from
abroad, they were held from one neighborhood to another, with a view to
awaken a more general and individual attention to the concerns of eternity.
They were commenced by the Rev. John Lord, of the New England conference, in
the month of September, in the year 1827; and such were their good effects,
that they soon spread through the country, even among other denominations,
particularly the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists. They are
generally conducted in the following manner: — Meetings are held morning,
afternoon, and evening, opened with a sermon, and closed with a prayer
meeting, during which penitent sinners are invited to come to the altar, to
receive the benefit of prayer and exhortation; and they are continued from
three to ten, and even twenty days, according to the nature and strength of
religious excitement which may be produced; though generally, when they are
lengthened out beyond four days, the exercises are confined chiefly to the
afternoon and evening. These meetings, in some places, have nearly
superseded camp meetings, and probably will, if continued, in many other
places. That in some instances they have run into excesses, is no more than
what might be expected, constituted as human nature is; but this is no more
an argument against their continuance, than it would be to infer that any
other good thing should be laid aside because of its abuse. As a means of
awakening sinners to a sense of their sinfulness, and leading them to Jesus
Christ for life and salvation, they have been abundantly blessed and owned
of God, and should therefore be kept up so long as they are productive of
these results.
Forty-two preachers received a location, sixty-seven were returned
supernumerary, and one hundred and twenty superannuated; seventeen had died,
three had withdrawn, and four had been expelled.
Among those who had died this year, all of whom departed in peace, we may
notice particularly Samuel Doughty, of the Philadelphia conference, who died
in the thirty-fifth year of his age and the fifth of his itinerant ministry.
Though young in the work of the ministry, he had established a character
which, had it pleased God to lengthen out his life, would doubtless have
shone forth with a peculiar brightness before the Church and the world. The
following testimony to his worth is taken from the account of his death in
the Minutes for this year: —
“Brother Doughty, as a preacher, was popular and useful. His discourses were
frequently truly eloquent; and had his voice been equal to his other
qualifications as a speaker, he would have attained much greater eminence.
His literary and theological acquirements were highly respectable, of which
his sermons in the Methodist Magazine, particularly that entitled
‘Instability in religion,’ afford satisfactory evidence.
“His zeal for the glory of God and the welfare of men appeared in the
interest which he took in the success of benevolent institutions. He was
their eloquent advocate, and was particularly active in the promotion of
Sunday schools, both before and after he became a minister of the gospel.
Just previous to his death he was engaged, with others, in organizing and
bringing into operation a Conference Sunday School Union, auxiliary to the
Sunday School Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which auxiliary he
was corresponding secretary. In September, 1825, he was invited to assist in
certain religious exercises at the enlargement of the church edifice in
Wilmington, Delaware, and was there seized with the illness which terminated
his life and labors on the seventeenth of that month, at the house of the
Rev. Solomon Higgins. He died in great peace, rejoicing that death, to him,
‘had no terrors.’ He was highly respected and beloved, and the tribute of
affection paid to his memory by the numerous and weeping members of his
charge, who followed him to his grave, was gratifying to his brethren and to
his surviving relatives.”
To those who knew him it is not necessary to add any thing more. Yet, having
had the pleasure of his acquaintance, I cannot forbear saying that there
always appeared in him a meekness of spirit and gentleness of deportment
highly becoming the Christian minister, and which commended him to the
affection and confidence of his brethren and friends. Though he possessed
more than ordinary endowments as a preacher, and could convey his thoughts
with a most graceful and easy elocution, yet he seemed unconscious of any
superiority over others, and always put himself in the attitude of an humble
learner, looking up to his seniors with diffidence, and to God by faith and
prayer. He was therefore much beloved by his brethren, and hailed by the
Church as a messenger of good tidings, and a willing and useful pastor to
the flock of Jesus Christ.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 382,679; Last Year: 359,533;
Increase: 23,146 — Colored This Year: 62,814; Last Year: 58,856; Increase:
3,958 — Indians This Year: 2,250; Last Year: 538; Increase: 1,712 — Total
This Year: 447,743; Last Year: 418,927 — Increase: 28,816 — Preachers This
Year: 1,817; Last Year: 1,642; Increase: 175.
1830
The reformation which had been effected among the aborigines of our country
seemed to awaken a most lively interest in their behalf throughout every
department of the Church, and no less so among those of the natives
themselves who had been truly converted to the Christian faith. For these
converts were not merely nominal believers in Christianity. They had felt
its renovating and transforming power upon their hearts, and this had
produced a correspondent change in their habits, civil, domestic, and
religious. By this means they presented in their own lives a living,
palpable, and irrefutable evidence to all who beheld them, that the gospel
of Jesus Christ is even now the power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth. These, therefore, were living epistles, written, not with
pen and ink, but by the finger of the living God, and sent unto the other
tribes that they might read with their own eyes of the wonderful works of
Almighty God, and be convinced that Christianity is “not a cunningly devised
fable,” but that it is still “the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Acting under the sacred impulse thus produced, an effort was made this year
to introduce the gospel among the Shawnee and Kansas Indians, and the Rev.
Thomas Johnson was sent to the former, and the Rev. William Johnson to the
latter tribe. These Indians inhabited the western part of the state of
Missouri, and the missions were therefore undertaken by the Missouri
conference. The Shawnees, especially, were found to be of a docile and
tractable disposition, had commenced the cultivation of the soil, and
manifested a great desire to be taught in religion, in literature, and the
arts of civil and domestic life. Though the missionaries met with much
difficulty, at first, for want of a qualified interpreter, yet a school was
soon established for the education of the children, and a house erected for
the accommodation of the mission. The commencement was small, and the
progress slow, but success has attended the labors of God’s servants, and
the mission has continued to flourish and enlarge its dimensions to this
day. Many, indeed, have been raised up among these natives of the forests,
who are now ornaments to their profession, bringing forth the fruits of
righteousness to the glory of God.
This year also several missions were commenced for the special benefit of
the slave population in the states of South Carolina and Georgia. This class
of people had been favored with the labors of the Methodist ministry from
the beginning of its labors in this country, and there were at this time
62,814 of the colored population in the several states and territories in
our Church fellowship, most of whom were slaves. It was found, however, on a
closer inspection into their condition, that there were many who could not
be reached by the ordinary means, and therefore preachers were selected who
might devote themselves exclusively to their service. A catechism was
prepared for their use, in which they might be taught the leading doctrines
and duties of Christianity, and many of these slaves have been brought to
the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
This year a mission was begun on the island of New York, called the Harlem
mission. This embraced a population in the neighborhood of the city, many of
whom were but transient residents, and generally destitute of the means of
grace. It has been continued on the list of missions to the present time,
always yielding, however, a partial support to the missionaries. In the
bounds of the mission four houses of worship have been erected, and a good
foundation is thus laid for the future salvation of the people who may
inhabit that part of our city and its environs.
Some of the old towns on the eastern banks of the Connecticut river were as
yet unvisited by our ministry, and this year a mission was undertaken for
their benefit. It was so far blessed that it soon became adequate to its own
support, and has since remained among our regular circuits.
In the northwestern parts of the state of Missouri, on the several branches
of the Sak river, Gasconade, and southern waters of the Osage river, there
were extensive tracts of country, fast filling up with emigrants from the
older states and territories. These people were “as sheep without a
shepherd,” and therefore needed the gospel to bring them into the fold of
Jesus Christ. Accordingly there were three missions commenced this year,
namely, the Salt River, the Gasconade, and the West Prairie, for the benefit
of these people. Notwithstanding the hardships and privations the
missionaries had to endure in traversing this new country, they succeeded in
raising up several societies and establishing regular circuits, which have
continued to flourish to the present time, and are now aiding to send the
gospel to other and more destitute place.
The Iroquois and Jonesborough missions, in the bounds of the Illinois
conference, were likewise commenced this year. The former included the tribe
of Kickapoo Indians, the condition of whom was somewhat singular. It seems
that a prophet had risen up among them, who acknowledged the true God, and
was zealously engaged in instructing his people in religious things. Whether
he had acquired his knowledge of God by intercourse either directly or
indirectly with the white people, or had been conducted along by the secret
whispers of that “Spirit which giveth understanding to man,” it appears
that, though mixed with many errors and superstitions, he had made
considerable progress in divine things, and was piously engaged in his
exertions for the temporal and spiritual benefit of his people. He was not
averse to hearing the truths of the gospel, though it was some time before
he fully gave up his peculiar notions, and came heartily to embrace
Christianity in its fulness and power
The Jonesborough mission, which embraced a new country about one hundred and
fifty miles from Vandalia, the capital of the state, was prosecuted with
such success that it returned the next year two hundred and sixty-four
Church members, and has since been numbered among the regular circuits.
Eleven preachers had died during the past year, and sixty-one had located;
sixty-seven were returned supernumerary, and one hundred and twenty-two
superannuated; four had been expelled, and four had withdrawn.
Among those who had taken their departure in peace was Henry Holmes, of the
Virginia conference who died on the 27th of July, 1829, in the forty fourth
year of his age, and the eighteenth of his itinerant ministry. The record of
his death awards to him an eminent standing among his brethren in the
ministry, as a man of deep piety, of unquestionable integrity and with rare
qualifications as a minister of the sanctuary. In 1823 he was appointed to
the office of presiding elder, which office he continued to fill with
becoming dignity and great usefulness until he finished his work. He has
therefore left a name behind him which will be remembered in connection with
the progress of Methodism in that part of Virginia with pious gratitude by
the people who were blessed under his ministrations. Though his death was
sudden, it did not find him unprepared, for he met it with pious resignation
and a joyful hope of future blessedness.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 402,561; Last Year: 382,679;
Increase: 19,882 — Colored This Year: 69,383; Last Year: 62,814; Increase:
6,569 — Indians This Year: 4,209; Last Year: 2,250; Increase: 1,959 — Total
This Year: 476,153; Last Year: 447,743 — Increase: 28,410 — Preachers This
Year: 1900; Last Year: 1817; Increase: 83.
In consequence of the action of the General Conference of 1828, by which it
was mutually agreed, that if the Canada brethren saw fit, they might form an
independent conference in Upper Canada, of which they had availed
themselves, the members belonging to the Church in that province are not
included in the above enumeration. Had these been added, the actual increase
would have been 37,935. This shows that, notwithstanding the secessions of
the “Reformers,” so called, and the agitations which followed, the labors of
our ministry were still sanctioned by the Head of the Church. Indeed,
greater peace and harmony pervaded the ranks of our Israel than had been
realized for many previous years, all being convinced that bold
experimenters were not the most infallible leaders.
1831
From the movements already alluded to in Upper Canada, the Indian missions
in that province, including no less than ten stations, and 1,850 adult
Indians under religious instruction, most of whom were members of the
Church, were taken from our superintendence and put under the care of the
Wesleyan conference in England. These missions, which had become endeared to
us by such associations as could not be easily dissolved, and for the
benefit of which we had expended so much labor and money, still clung to our
affections and could not therefore be surrendered, even in the amicable
manner in which the arrangement for their future supply was made, without
feelings of regret. Knowing, however, that they would be provided for by our
brethren in England with the same assiduous care with which they had been
from the beginning, we withdrew our pastoral oversight with the less sorrow,
still praying almighty God to bless and prosper them.
Hitherto our Indian missions in the United States and territories had been
attended with unparalleled success. About this time, however, the action of
the general government of the United States on the Indian settlements began
to exert an injurious influence upon some of these missions, and even to
threaten them with destruction. In 1821 the Rev. Dr. Morse made an extensive
tour of observation among the western tribes of Indians, under the patronage
of the general government; and, in his published report, gave it as the
result of his observations, that, could an amicable arrangement be made
between the government and the aboriginal tribes, for their removal west of
the Mississippi, where they could live under the protection of the United
States, and be taught the arts of agriculture and domestic life, it would be
mutually beneficial. This opinion, which seems to have been adopted by the
government, and by the leading men of the nation, was manifestly founded on
the presumption that the Indians, while they remain under their own laws and
usages, cannot flourish in the vicinity of the white population, nor yet so
amalgamate with the whites as to become identified with them. And does not
the painful history of these people fully justify this opinion? From the
first settlement of the country until now, notwithstanding all the efforts
which have been made by philanthropists and Christians to civilize and
Christianize these people, they have gradually receded on the advance of
civilized society, or melted away and become extinct. Why is this? Is it
because they have refused to obey the original command given to man, that he
must “dress the garden “and keep it,” and “till the ground whence he was
taken?” Whatever may have been the cause, such are the facts in relation to
their history thus far; and whether the efforts recently put forth and now
using to save them from barbarism and destruction shall prove ultimately
successful, we must leave for other generations to testify.
But whatever may be their future destiny, the general government have
adopted the policy already suggested, of removing them from their present
residences to the regions west of the Mississippi, with the promise of
protection from future aggressions upon their rights, and the hope of
bettering their condition. To effect this object, treaty stipulations were
entered into with some of the tribes to purchase their lands, to indemnify
them for their losses, and to aid in transferring them to their new
habitation. As these treaties were often concluded in opposition to large
minorities of the natives, they became difficult of execution, produced much
irritation, and in some instances the hazard and even the loss of life.
This policy operated most injuriously upon the Cherokees, who were settled
principally in the state of Georgia. Over these people Georgia undertook to
extend her laws, and thus force them either to sell their lands and remove
west of the Mississippi, or be deprived of the privileges of living under
their own laws, as members of a separate community. As the project was
resisted by the most opulent part of the Cherokees, and a considerable
portion of the nation, a division of sentiment was created among themselves
in regard to their removal, which excited much irritation of feeling, and
operated injuriously on the interests of the mission. At this time there
were no less than seventeen missionaries, including interpreters, and eight
hundred and fifty Church members, and the prospects of extensive good were
brightening until they were overcast by these movements. This year, 1831,
the troubles increased, and one of our missionaries, the Rev. Mr. Trott, for
refusing to take the oath of allegiance required by the state of Georgia,
was arrested, imprisoned, put in chains, and otherwise maltreated. On
promising, however., to leave the territory, he was pardoned by the governor
and set at liberty. These proceedings greatly harassed the Christian Indians
who resided within the chartered limits of Georgia, while those without the
state were in a more prosperous condition.
Similar results were produced by similar movements among the Choctaws. This
mission had been remarkably owned of God, so much so that in 1830 there were
reported not less than four thousand Church members, embracing all the
principal men of the nation, their chief and captains, many of whom were
eminently useful in instructing their brethren by exhortation and prayer.
They were, however, less averse to being removed than the Cherokees, and
finally, in a council which was held in March, 1830, [3] they passed a
resolution to sell their lands to the United States and emigrate to the
west. This resolution, however, gave offense to a part of the nation, and
furnished a pretext to the pagans to plot the destruction of the
missionaries and Christian Indians. The treaty, however, was finally
consummated, though with much difficulty, and the missionaries determined to
accompany the Christian Indians to their new habitation. It should be
recorded that the general government did all it could to mitigate their
sufferings, by affording provision and protection to the emigrants, and
securing to them their lands in the west.
Yet, with all the precautions which were used by the government and the
missionaries, they suffered much in their religious enjoyments, became
divided, some were disheartened, and not a few apostatized from
Christianity. For these sad disasters there seemed to be no adequate remedy.
The decree was passed, and remove they must; and the Rev. Alexander Talley,
who had devoted his best days and energies to this mission, and that too
with a rare success, accompanied them to their new residence; and in a
letter dated Sept. 5, 1831, he states that about five hundred had arrived,
most of whom were members of the Church. These, with others that
occasionally arrived at their new home, attended regularly to their
Christian duties, and they have prospered more or less to the present time.
These movements may account for the diminution in the number of Christian
Indians on these missionary stations.
The Wyandott mission, which now included two hundred and twenty-three Church
members, and had attached to it a flourishing school, was this year extended
to the river Huron, where, through the labors of the missionaries and some
native exhorters, there was a reformation effected among a few families of
the Wyandotts and Shawnees, ten of whom became members of the Church.
The western country was almost daily presenting claims upon the bounty and
labor of the Church to supply its spiritual wants. This year a mission was
undertaken in Jackson county, Illinois, with the encouraging prospects of
success. Another, called Deplain, was commenced, and has since been
prosecuted with diligence and success.
The Lee mission, which embraced a tract of country in the counties of Lee
and Marion, west of the Flint river, was commenced this year. This new
country was now filling up rapidly with inhabitants and they were thus
supplied with the word and ordinances of the gospel. The missionary formed a
regular circuit, having no less than fifteen preaching places and in the
course of the year received one hundred and twenty-five into the Church,
besides erecting two houses of worship.
The cause of education was advancing steadily among us since its late
revival, so that during the present year no less than three collegiate
institutions had been founded, and had made a promising commencement. One of
these was in Middletown, in the state of Connecticut. The buildings, which
were of stone, and the land connected with them, estimated at from thirty to
forty thousand dollars, were presented gratuitously to the New York and New
England conferences by the Literary and Scientific Society of Middletown, on
condition that forty thousand dollars more should be raised for the purpose
of establishing a literary institution to be under the control of the two
conferences above named, and any others that might unite with them in the
enterprise. These conditions being complied with, the premises were deeded
to a board of trustees elected by said conferences, who have the sole
management of the financial concerns of the institution; and it soon
afterward received a charter from the legislature of the state of
Connecticut, of a very liberal character.
The Wesleyan University, for this is its name, is located in a most
delightful place, on an eminence in the western section of the city, having
a commanding view of the Connecticut river, and the adjacent country east,
north, and south, and is surrounded by a population noted for their steady,
industrious, and religious habits, all zealous for the promotion of
education, and most of whom take a deep interest in the university. The late
Wilbur Fisk, D. D., was selected as its president, and, being aided by an
able faculty, the university went into operation under favorable auspices,
and has continued to meet the public expectation. Here, under the able
guidance of its estimable president and his colleagues, many a youth has
received his diploma in a manner alike creditable to himself and his
instructors and what has tended to endear the institution to the Methodist
Episcopal Church, a spirit of piety has pervaded its inmates, many of whom
were born unto God during their sojourn in this young and rising nursery of
learning and religion. It may be said in truth, that no place, in proportion
to its numbers, has been more frequently or more generally blessed with
revivals of religion than the Wesleyan University.
Another was established this year under the patronage of the Virginia and
South Carolina conferences, in Boydston, Mecklenburgh county, Va., called
the Randolph Macon College, under a charter from the state of Virginia. The
Rev. Stephen Olin, favorably known to the public for his sound learning and
deep piety, was elected its president, and he continued to discharge his
duties with great satisfaction until his declining health obliged him to
resign his station, for the purpose of making a voyage to Europe, in the
hope of regaining his lost health.
This institution is also favorably located, and it went into operation under
circumstances highly promising to its patrons and friends, having about
sixty thousand dollars pledged to begin with. It has continued to fulfill
public expectation, and, like the Wesleyan University, has been blessed with
frequent revivals of religion, and has sent out sons imbued with sound
learning and solid piety.
La Grange formed the third college which had been recently established under
Methodist patronage. This was commenced under the patronage of the Tennessee
and Alabama conferences, and was located in La Grange, in North Alabama, in
a beautiful and healthy part of the country. Though its commencement was
small, the whole property being estimated at only about twenty thousand
dollars, yet it has gone on increasing in strength and patronage, commanding
the public confidence and giving a useful education to its students. The
Rev. Robert Paine was its first president, and he has proved his competency
for the office by the satisfactory manner in which he has discharged its
duties to this day. God has also smiled upon this institution, by pouring
out his Spirit from time to time upon the students, and bringing them to the
knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus.
In addition to these collegiate institutions, the several academies
heretofore mentioned were in successful operation, and were so many feeders
to these higher and larger fountains of learning and science. It would seem,
therefore, that the Methodist Episcopal Church was determined to redeem its
character from the foul blot cast upon it, not without some reason, that it
had been indifferent to the cause of literature and science. And the
experiments which had been recently made had thus far succeeded so well,
that many who had hesitated concerning the propriety and feasibility of the
enterprise seemed to be convinced that the indications of divine Providence
spoke so emphatically in its favor that they felt it their imperative duty
to come up to its help. And all that is wanting to establish these
institutions upon a permanent foundation, is more ample endowment from the
wealthy and benevolent. If supported and conducted as they ought to be, and
certainly may be, they will become the fruitful nurseries of learning and
religion, and tend to add strength and beauty to that Church, under the
patronize of which they have been founded and thus far sustained.
The work of God this year was generally prosperous, as may be seen by a
reference to the increase of membership.
Seventy preacher had located, two withdrawn. two had been expelled,
seventy-six returned supernumerary, and one hundred and thirty-four
superannuated.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 437,024; Last Year: 402,561;
Increase: — Colored This Year: 71,589; Last Year: 69,383; Increase: 2,206
— Indians This Year: 4,501; Last Year: 4,209; Increase: 292 — Total This
Year: 513,114; Last Year: 476,153 — Increase: 36,961 — Preachers This Year:
2,010; Last Year: 1900; Increase: 110.
_________________________________________________________________
[1] The total number in the printed Minutes is set down as being 421,156,
which is, 2,229 more than it should be. See Methodist Magazine, and Minutes
of Conferences for 1828.
[2] Those who wish full information on this subject may consult the “Defense
of our Fathers,” “Reviewer Reviewed,” and “Original Church of Christ.”
[3] The following letter from an eye-witness of these things will show how
matters were conducted: — “The Choctaw country is divided into three
districts, called Lower towns, Six towns, and Upper towns. The Upper towns
form the western district. Colonel Lefleur was formerly chief of the Upper
towns, and Colonels Folsom and Garland were chiefs of the two eastern
districts; until at a great council, held in March last, at which a majority
of the warriors of the nation were present, Colonels Folsom and Garland
[both Christians of the Presbyterian denominational resigned and Colonel
Lefleur [a member of the Methodist Church] was chosen chief of the whole
nation. This council, it will be recollected, also voted to offer their
country for sale to the United States, on certain conditions, and to remove
west of the Mississippi. “The vote to sell the country excited so much
dissatisfaction, that Mushulatubee, [the leader of the pagan party,] who
formerly been chief of the Lower towns district, but had been deposed,
availed himself of it to recover his fortunes. He placed himself at the head
of his friends, and with the aid of Netockache, the leader of the Kunshas, a
little pagan clan in the Six towns district succeeded in obtaining a
temporary ascendency in the eastern part of the nation. The followers of
Mushulatubee went through the form of appointing him chief of the Lower
towns in the place of Folsom, and Netockache took the place of Garland as
chief of the Six towns. They then combined their efforts tried all means in
their power to put down religion, and becoming gradually more and more bold,
at length threatened to drive out the missionaries out of the nation, and if
they were compelled to emigrate west of the Mississippi, declared that not
one should accompany them. They deposed the Christian captains throughout
the two districts, and made use of threats, persuasions, and bribes, to
induce those who had professed Christianity to cast off fear and live
without God. It was now a time of great and almost constant alarm, and
probably the only consideration which prevented the pagans from proceeding
to extremities was the fear of Lefleur. At last, believing themselves
sufficiently strong, they resolved ‘to break him,’ but in this they were
disappointed, as will be seen in the sequel. “At the time of the
distribution of the annuity for the two eastern districts at the factory,
Mushulatubee and Netockache surrounded the building with their men, and
resolved to prevent the Christian party from receiving any part of the
goods. For this purpose they stationed guards along the road, and had
collected a body of fifty or sixty armed men. But what was their surprise
when Colonel Lefleur suddenly appeared before them, at the head of eight
hundred armed warriors! The truth is, he left home with the determination of
settling the controversy. He had, therefore, made ample preparation, and on
his arrival near the factory he sent to the pagans ‘a straight forward
talk,’ and it was also a ‘hard talk,’ — ‘Mushulatubee must resign,’ and must
make his decision in fifteen minutes. At the end of this period, receiving
no answer, Colonel Lefleur, at the head of his mounted men, proceeded toward
Mushulatubee’s quarters. It was now expected that there would be bloody
work, but Mushulatubee had secreted himself; and Netockache, coming forward,
offered his hand for peace and was accepted. Colonel Lefleur and Colonel
Folsom, themselves unarmed, but at the head of their men, then pushed their
way, in company with Netockache, through the guard, toward the body of the
pagan party, who fled in all directions at their approach. Mushulatubee at
length made his appearance, and, finding all resistance hopeless, consented
to resign, and was told not to think of the office of chief for himself so
long as Folsom or Lefleur lived. “Every thing,” says the letter, “has turned
out well. Lefleur has raised himself in the esteem of thousands. He was very
prudent, but determined. His cause was good. Mushulatubee and Netockache
were usurpers and bitter persecutors, but Mushulatubee has sunk, and
although Netockache is at present acknowledged as chief of the Kunshas, he
is ‘to walk straight.’ or he will himself sink. Another chief will soon be
selected in Folsoms district. The United States commissioners will probably
visit the nation to treat before long. What the Choctaws will finally do, I
know not, or what troubles are before them. One thing is pretty certain,
that they are threatened with a famine on account of the drought. Many will
have no corn at all, and others only part of a crop.”
_________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 11
The General Conference of 1832
This conference assembled in the city of Philadelphia on the first of May,
1832, and was composed of the following delegates:
New York Conference: Nathan Bangs, John Clark, Laban Clark, James Covel,
John Emory, Samuel D. Ferguson, Buel Goodsell, Noah Levings, Samuel Merwin,
Daniel Ostrander, Fitch Reed, Phineas Rice, Marvin Richardson, Peter P.
Sandford, Robert Seney, Tobias Spicer, John B. Stratten, Nicholas White.
New England Conference: Daniel Fillmore, Wilbur Fisk, Benjamin F. Lambord,
John Lindsey, A. D. Merrill, Timothy Merritt, B. Otheman, George Pickering,
Orange Scott, J. Steele, J. Stoddard, F. Upham, Daniel Webb, Shipley Wilson.
Maine Conference: C. Baker, Oliver Beale, S. Bray, P. Burgess, W. H. Norris,
D. Hutchinson, B. Jones, John Lord, W. Marsh, E. Robinson, J. Spalding.
New Hampshire and Vermont Conference: John Adams, C. D. Calhoon, John W.
Hardy, Benjamin R. Hoyt, Samuel Norris, Jared Perkins, George Storrs,
Eleazer Wells,
Oneida Conference: Elias Bowen, Joseph Castle, John Dempster, George Harmon,
Josiah Kies, Zachariab Paddock, Nathaniel Salisbury.
Genesee Conference: Asa Abell, Robert Burch, Israel Chamberlayne, Abner
Chase, John Copeland, Edmund O. Fling.
Pittsburgh Conference: Alfred Brunson, Ira Eddy, Charles Elliott, Robert
Hopkins, Daniel Limerick, Wilder B. Mack, Joshua Munroe, Billings O.
Plympton, David Sharp, William Stevens, John Waterman.
Ohio Conference: Russell Bigelow, W. B. Christie, John Collins, Zachariab
Connell, A. W. Elliot, James Finley, Curtis Goddard, Charles Holliday,
Greenbury Jones, James Quinn, W. H. Raper, L. Swormstedt, J. F. Wright,
David Young.
Illinois Cenference: James Armstrong, Thomas Hitt, G. Lock, Calvin W. Ruter,
William Shanks, Samuel H. Thompson, Allen Wiley.
Holston Conference: John Bowman, W. G. Brownlow, J. K. Catlett, James
Cumming, George Ekin, John Henninger, Samuel Patton, Thomas Springfield.
Kentucky Conference: William Adams, Peter Akers, Henry B. Bascom, Benjamin
T. Crouch, H. H. Kavanaugh, Marcus Lindsay, George McNelly, Martin Ruter,
Jonathan Stamper, G. W. Taylor, John Tevis, Joseph S. Tomlinson, Richard
Tydings.
Missouri Conference: Joseph Edmundson, Jesse Green, Alexander McAllister.
Tennessee Conference: Thomas L. Douglass, Lewis Garrett, Alexander P. Green,
G. W. D. Harris, Greensville T. Henderson, J. M. Holland, Wilson L.
McAllister, James McFerrin, William McMahan, Lorenzo D. Overall Francis A.
Owen, Robert Paine, Fountain E. Pitts.
Mississippi Conference: William M. Curtis, Thomas Griffin, Ebenezer Hearn,
Joseph McDowell, Robert L. Walker, William Winans.
Georgia Conference: James O. Andrew, William Arnold, Ignatius A. Few, Andrew
Hamil, Samuel K. Hodges, John Howard, William J. Parks, Benjanim Pope,
Elijah Sinclair, Allen Turner.
South Carolina Conference: Charles Betts, William Capers, Samuel Dunwody,
Bond English, William M. Kenneday, Malcom McPherson, Hartwell Spain,
Nicholas Talley.
Virginia Conference: Bennet T. Blake, James Boyd, Moses Brock, Thomas
Crowder, Benjamin Devany, Peter Doub, John Earley, William Hammett, Caleb
Leach, Hezekiah G. Leigh, James Read, Lewis Skidmore, William A. Smith.
Baltimore Conference: John Bear, Robert Cadden, Charles A. Davis, John
Davis, Henry Furlong, Alfred Griffith, William Hamilton, James M. Hanson,
Andrew Hemphill, Gerard Morgan, S. G. Roszel, Henry Slicer, Henry Smith,
David Steele, Charles B. Tippett, Norval Wilson.
Philadelphia Conference: George Banghart, Henry Boehm, Ezekiel Cooper, David
Dailey, Manning Force, Solomon Higgins, John Kennaday, Joseph Lybrand,
Lawrence McCombs, John Potts, William Torbert, Thomas Ware, Henry White.
Bishop McKendree, though in the city, not being able to attend the
conference, and Bishop Roberts, the next in official seniority, not having
arrived, the conference was opened by Bishop Soule, with reading the Holy
Scriptures and prayer, Bishop Hedding being present.
Thomas L. Douglass was elected secretary, and Charles A. Davis assistant
secretary. After the conference was thus organized, the bishops delivered
the following address: —
“To the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, assembled in
Philadelphia.
“Dear Brethren: — We have abundant cause of thankfulness to the Father of
all mercies, for that gracious providence which has preserved us to assemble
on this interesting and important occasion. And it becomes us to look up to
him in humble prayer for his direction through the arduous business which
may come before us.
Since the last meeting of this body, it has pleased the great Head of the
church to pour out his Spirit upon us in an extraordinary manner. Our
borders have been greatly enlarged, and the field of labor is continually
extending with the advance of population. The increase of the membership for
the four years ending last July has been one hundred and thirty-one
thousand, one hundred and seventeen.
“The troubles and dangers which threatened us at our last session have
nearly passed away. The secession from the Church, although embracing some
valuable members, has been far less extensive than was feared; and the
results, with regard to the general interests of the Church, it is presumed,
have been widely different from the calculations of the principal agents in
the schism.
“The measures which have been pursued by those who have been called
‘Reformers,’ have elicited a more careful examination of the principles of
the government and economy of the Church, among our preachers and people,
and through the community in general.
“This examination has resulted in a clearer conviction of the excellence of
our system, and especially the efficacy of our itinerant plan; and
consequently peace, harmony, and reciprocal confidence have been greatly
increased and confirmed.
“To preserve such a happy state of things through that vast body of
ministers and people to whom we are related in the strongest bonds of
interest and affection, and to devise measures for the more extensive and
efficient operation of that system which has already been so remarkably
successful, is the chief business of your present deliberations and
counsels.
“Whatever may be the present apparent condition of the great Christian
community, spread over this vast country, whatever success may appear to
attend the measures adopted for the extension of the cause of truth, it is
believed, that there has been no period in the history of Methodism in this
country which involved greater interests, or called more loudly for a
constant, clear, and zealous exhibition of those evangelical doctrines
contained in our form of Discipline and standard works.
“It may be the policy of others to suppress their articles or confessions of
faith; to alter or change them to suit the condition of society; or to
envelop them in the mists of metaphysical disquisitions and refinements; but
with us it is very different. To circulate our articles of faith in the most
extensive manner, to put our doctrine and discipline into as many houses and
hands as possible, and to preach those doctrines everywhere, in the most
plain and simple manner, especially holiness of heart and life, is our best
policy.
“Our Missionary, Sunday School, Tract, and Bible Societies have been found
most valuable and efficient auxiliaries to the grand itinerant system, in
carrying on the blessed work of spreading Scriptural holiness over these
lands. Already much has been accomplished by the operation of these
institutions, although they are but in their infancy. And it is believed
that with the proper attention of the annual conferences, and the efficient
agency of the preachers in the districts, circuits, and stations, all the
objects for which these associations have been formed may be fully realized.
It has, however, been thought by many, that the Sunday school system might
be improved and made more simple, and that the organization of a school and
mode of instruction might be so embodied and simplified, in a book, as to
render the formation and discipline of the schools much less difficult. We
recommend this subject to your attention.
“The number of the annual conferences has considerably increased in the last
four years, and in consequence of the enlargement of the work, it is
probable others must shortly be organized. And as one of the superintendents
has been removed from his labors and his sufferings to his eternal rest, we
recommend to your attention the propriety of strengthening the general
superintendency.
“The Book Concern, under a judicious management, in the hands of able
agents, has so increased as to afford, as the report of the agents will
show, an increased dividend to the annual conferences. It is believed to be
in a prosperous state. This institution, both in regard to pecuniary means,
and the spread of doctrinal, experimental, and practical religion, has a
high claim to the patronage of the community at large, and to your attention
as the guardians of its prosperity.
“The last General Conference authorized the superintendents, by and with the
advice and consent of the annual conferences, to form several new
conferences, which has accordingly been done. But we beg leave to suggest
that this method of dividing conferences, and forming new ones, involves a
responsibility which we desire may not rest on us in future.
“We would invite an inquiry whether the rule, (page eighty-six, compared
with page thirty-eight,) which authorizes a preacher to exclude a member of
our Church from love feast without a regular form of trial: and the rule,
(page eighty-five,) which requires a member to be put back on trial for an
improper marriage, are consistent with the right of our members of a trial
by a committee, as provided in the restrictive articles. (See page
twenty-one.)
“Some of the annual conferences have had doubts relative to the course
proper to be pursued when a preacher on trial is accused of crime. We
recommend an examination of this subject, with a view to the adoption of a
rule, should it be thought expedient, which shall effect an identity in the
administration in such cases.
“The rule relative to members who fail in business, or contract debts which
they are not able to pay, has been ought defective in two points. First, It
appears to limit the inquiries of the examining committee to the
‘accounts’ of the delinquent; and secondly, It is doubtful whether the
‘delinquent, if found guilty, is to be expelled on the decision of the first
committee, or be tried before another committee in order to final expulsion.
A difference of administration has resulted from this apparent defect in the
rule. We recommend it to your deliberate consideration, together with the
rule relative to cases where complaint is made for nonpayment of debts.
Most of the annual conferences have established literacy institutions. In
some cases this has been done by a single conference, and in other cases by
two or more conferences, united. Most of these institutions, though in an
infant state, are flourishing and prosperous, and promise great usefulness
to the community in general, and to the Methodist Church in particular. We
cannot but retard this as a subject of vital interest to the connection at
large. Your wisdom will determine whether any, and if any, what measures can
be adopted by the General Conference at its present session for the support
and advancement of this noble work.
“We have witnessed with deep regret the moral and religious condition of
many of the children committed to our charge; children who have been
consecrated to God, and brought into a special relation to his militant
church by baptism. We would recommend a careful review of the section on the
instruction of children, with a design to determine whether any thing can be
added to those most excellent directions, which may tend to confirm and
reserve such children in this relation to the church of God.
“Notwithstanding our earnest desire to establish a mission at Liberia, in
conformity with the request of the General Conference at its last session,
circumstances which seemed extremely difficult, if not impossible, to
control, have hitherto prevented the accomplishment of this desirable
object. But at present we have an encouraging prospect of being able to
embrace the first safe time and opportunity to send one or two missionaries
to the coasts of Africa.
Permit us, dear brethren, in conclusion, to commend you and ourselves to
God, and to the word of his grace, praying earnestly that he would direct
you by the light of his holy Spirit, and comfort and Support you by the word
of his grace. And that the whole Church may be preserved in the unity of the
Spirit, and in the bond of peace.
“Yours, with much affection and esteem,
“W. McKendree, “Joshua Soule, “Elijah Hedding.
“Philadelphia, May 1, l832.”
The following extracts from the several reports which were adopted by this
General Conference will show its feelings and views in relation to the
various subjects which came up for consideration.
The report on missions, which was adopted by the conference, after an
approval of the general plan of operations, recommends again the
establishment a mission in Liberia, the sending one person or more on a tour
of observation to South America and Mexico, “with a view to ascertain the
practicability of establishing missions in those countries,” and likewise
the extension of the aboriginal missions on our western and northwestern
frontiers, as well as the use of more energetic measures to fill up the
waste places, whether in the older parts of our work or in the more recently
settled territories.
The constitution of the society was, also, so amended as to make it the duty
of the managers to make an estimate for the support of those aboriginal and
foreign missions not connected with any particular annual conference, and
authorizing the superintendent of such missions to draw on the treasurer of
the society for the amount appropriated, in quarterly or half yearly
installments.
The committee on education, after enumerating the several academical and
collegiate institutions heretofore mentioned, and expressing their entire
confidence in their character, and the manner in which they had been
conducted, reported the following resolutions, which were concurred in by
the conference.
“Resolved, That we have confidence in the above-named institutions, and that
it be respectfully recommended to the annual conferences, and to our people
and tends generally, to give their patronage and liberal support to these
institutions as they may severally prefer.
“Resolved, That the above resolution is not to be so understood as to
discourage the establishing of conference seminaries, as heretofore
recommended by the General Conference, and that it is desirable that there
should be, as far as possible, one first-rate institution of this class in
each annual conference.
“Resolved, That self-supporting literary institutions re highly approved of
by this conference, and the establishment of a department of industry in
manual labor in our seminaries and colleges, where it is practicable, is —
earnestly recommended.
“We deem it of great importance to the interests of our Church, that the
colleges and academies which have been established under the direction of
the annual conferences should be sustained and rendered permanent: and we
invite our friends generally, as well as the members of our communion in
particular, to bestow upon them a liberal patronage, and to assist in
providing funds. To accomplish this it has been proposed to form societies
for the purpose of raising moneys annually during a certain number of years,
and the measure has been sanctioned by some of the annual conferences. The
plan is evidently a judicious one, and we recommend it to our societies
wherever it may be judged practicable, but particularly in those sections
where it has been already introduced.”
The Bible, Sunday School, and Tract Societies were highly approved of; and
recommended to the patronage and support of the members and friends of our
Church, as may be seen in the pastoral and dress.
The following extracts from this address will show the views which were
entertained on the several subjects therein named: —
1. Holiness. — “When we speak of holiness, we mean that state in which God
is loved with all the heart, and served with all the power. This, as
Methodists, we have said is the privilege of the Christian in this life;
and, we have further said, that this privilege may be secured
instantaneously, by an act of faith, as justification was. Why, then,
have we so few living witnesses that ‘the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth from all sin?’ Let us beware lest we satisfy ourselves with
the correctness of our creed, while we neglect the momentous practical
effects which that creed was intended to have upon us. Among primitive
Methodists, the experience of this high attainment in religion may
justly be said to have been common: now, a profession of it is rarely to
be met with among us. Is it not time for us, in this matter at least, to
return to first principles? Is it not time that we throw off the
reproach of inconsistency with which we are charged in regard to this
matter? Only let all who have been born of the Spirit, and have tasted
of the good word of God, seek, with the same ardor, to be made perfect
in love as they sought for the pardon of their sins, and soon will our
class meetings and love feasts be cheered by the relation of experiences
of this higher character, as they now are with those which tell of
justification and the new birth. And, when this shall come to be the
case, we may expect a corresponding increase in the amount of our
Christian enjoyments, and in the force of the religious influence we
shall exert over others.”
2. Family religion. — “Closely connected with personal holiness is family
religion. Indeed, it may be considered as resulting from, and depending
more or less upon it. He in whom the love of God is a paramount
principle of action, will live in the bosom of his family as an
instructing prophet, an interceding priest, and a leading example; and
his influence will be felt. He will attend to the duties of family
religion, not merely because they are prescribed, but because his heart
is in them, and because he finds his greatest happiness in such
attendance; and, wherever the heart prompts to a course of action that
leads manifestly to happy consequences, the influence upon those who
come within its range is great as well as certain.”
3. Instruction of children. — “The early instruction of our children in the
knowledge of God, and of their duty to him, is a part of family religion
which yields to none other in importance. Earliest impressions are
usually the most lasting, and the most powerful in their influence upon
the character of man. Hence it is, that so much emphasis is laid upon
this duty in the sacred Scriptures. As a Church, we have admitted the
high importance of an early religious education; but does our practice
bear witness of the sincerity and practical influence of our convictions
on this subject? Is it not a fact to be greatly deplored, that parents,
religious, Methodist parents, too often act with no fixed plan in the
education of their children? And where this is not the case, is not
religion too often an object of; at most, secondary consequence in the
arrangement of the plan adopted? Are we careful that not only our own
instructions, but the books we place in the hands of our children, the
company with which we encourage their association, the institutions in
which we place them for education, and the instructors we provide for
them, shall all, as far as possible, be such as shall contribute to the
training of them up in the way in which they should go? Do we, when
compelled to choose between them, prefer a course likely to make our
children Christians, to one which will secure to them high standing in
the world? If not, can we wonder if they shall choose the world rather
than religion? We ourselves teach them that preference when we sacrifice
their religious improvement to the acquisition of fashionable
accomplishments. O, if parents would but consider how inconceivably
important it is, that the minds of their children should be properly
directed, they surely would shake off the indolence that prevents their
own exertions for that purpose; and they would be careful that the
influence exerted by others should, as far as possible, not only be
innocent, but conducive to their forming an early religious character.
When, as parents, we shall feel our weighty and fearful responsibility
in this matter; when we shall properly appreciate the importance of an
early religious education to the character and interests of our
children, and when we shall act accordingly, then may we expect to see
them early disciples of Jesus, steadily walking in the way in which they
should go, and joyful partakers with us of the consolations of the
gospel. Then may we see wiped off the reproach of that too often
pertinent interrogatory, ‘In what are the children of Methodists better
than those of others?’ And who of us that has known the joy of God’s
salvation, that would not prefer that our children should be partakers
in that joy, rather than that they should possess all that the world
esteems good and great?”
4. Sabbath Schools. — “Among the most efficient auxiliaries in the
religions instruction of our children, we may rank sabbath schools. The
good that has beers accomplished by these will never be fully known till
that day arrives which shall reveal the secrets of all hearts, and the
operation and tendency of the various influences which have acted upon
the human character. Then it will be seen how many inexperienced feet
have been prevented from wandering into the mazes of folly and sin how
many thoughtless wanderers have been arrested in their course, and
brought back to the ways of righteousness; and how many have been led to
inquiry and to God by their instrumentality. Considering, then, the
mighty and beneficial influence of sabbath Schools, allow us earnestly
to recommend, that wherever it is possible, institutions of this kind
shall be established, and zealously and perseveringly supported, by all
who love the Lord Jesus, and care for the best interests of the rising
generation.
For reasons which we think must be obvious on the slightest observation, we
prefer the establishment and support of sabbath schools in connection with,
and supplied with books from, our own Sunday School Union. Doctrines which
we esteem of vital importance are not to be expected in the books or
instructions of schools under any other patronage. We shall instance in only
two particulars — the doctrine of Christian perfection, and that of the
possibility of so falling from grace as to perish everlastingly. Now,
believing these doctrines, and considering them as of immense practical
importance, are we willing that our children should receive a course of
religious instruction from which they are to be excluded? And yet in those
schools which are under the patronage of the American Sunday School Union,
these doctrines must not be taught because some of the parties to this Union
do not receive them as doctrines of the gospel. There are other important
discrepancies in the opinions of those who compose this Union and our
Church; but these are mentioned, because they are familiar, and because no
mode of reconciling them could be adopted.
Nearly allied to this recommendation of our own Sunday School Union and
Sunday Schools, is that which we would now urge upon you in relation to our
own Tract and Bible Societies — the former for the reasons already assigned,
and both, because, in giving the preference to books issued from our own
Book Concern, we afford support to that Concern, which is, in all its
bearings, a very important part of that system by which Methodism has
purposed to spread vital holiness over these lands. We are not ignorant that
we have been reproached with sectarian exclusiveness, in holding off from
national religious charities; but we are little concerned at this. We are a
sect of Christians, who honestly and conscientiously hold opinions, which we
esteem of great importance, different from those which are held by most
other Christian denominations; and we believe it to be our duty, not only
not to disguise or to keep back these peculiar opinions, but to urge them
constantly and emphatically upon all those, and especially the young, who
are under our instruction. For these reasons, we would wish the liberty to
conduct our religious charities on our own account, and in our own way.
Besides these, there are other reasons which have induced us not to connect
ourselves with national religious charities. We believe that, in the
arrangement of Providence, it is wisely permitted that the various sects of
Christians should act upon their several views, the more extensively to
spread the substantial truths of the gospel through the world, in order to
check any aberrations, whether in doctrine or practice, to to which human
infirmity renders the best and wisest of all sects liable, and in order to
excite each other to activity and diligence. We, moreover, believe that a
union of the various denominations of Christians, for the operation of
religious charities, while they continue to differ in regard to important
religious doctrines, would lessen the amount of these charities, and lead in
the end to dissensions and animosities not otherwise to be apprehended. For
these and other reasons, especially that we consider national religious
societies incompatible with the safety of our free institutions, both civil
and religious, we have long been known as in opposition to them.
And, as this has long been known, it is, to say the least of it, not a
little surprising that agents of those societies have been found, who have
confidently reported the Methodist Church as their supporters. It would be
ridiculous, if not wicked, for these agents to excuse themselves, by saying
that a few individuals of the Methodist Church are such supporters, when
they cannot but know that, as a body, we are avowedly opposed to any such
connection. But, not even this apology can be made by those who have
continued, on the ground of unauthorized appointments, to represent our
bishops and other ministers as officers in these societies, after they have,
in the most unequivocal manner, declined the acceptance of such offices.”
5. General Exhortation. “And we earnestly recommend a strict observance of
the requirements of our excellent form of Discipline, especially in what
respects class meeting, conformity to the world, and the preservation of
purity and peace in the members of a body associated for purposes of such
mighty consequence, both to individual interest and the general good. If we
would accomplish all the good contemplated in the formation of our society,
we must strengthen and draw close the ties that hind us together; we most
preserve the peculiar and distinctive features of our Christian character,
and we must act with concentrated force.
“In conclusion, dear brethren, after earnestly entreating your prayers, that
we may have hearts to labor for God, and that he may crown our labors with
success, we commend you to him and to the word of his grace, praying that he
may make all grace to abound to you, and that he may bring us together to
his everlasting kingdom and glory, through Christ Jesus, to whom be glory,
for ever. Amen.”
We have before noticed the movements in the Christian world on the subject
of temperance. It came up for consideration before this conference, and
resulted in the adoption of the following report, from the pen of the Rev.
Henry B. Bascom, secretary of the committee to whom the subject was
referred: —
The delegates from the several annual conferences of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, in General Conference assembled, at Philadelphia, May, 1832, after
due inquiry and deliberation, have deemed it necessary to submit to the
consideration of the ministry and membership of the Church, throughout the
United States, the following remarks and advice on the subject of
Temperance, the viewed as a question of intense and growing interest, now
extensively occupying the attention of the religious public and the American
people in general.
“The duty and necessity of strict and exemplary abstinence from indulgence
in the use of ardent spirits and intoxicating liquors of every sort, will be
found to have been a part of the moral discipline of our church from the
earliest date of its existence and operations; and it is known to those who
are at all familiar with our history, that we have accomplished much in
preserving those immediately under our charge proverbially pure from the
stain, and free from the curse of intemperance. Nevertheless, our success
has not been entire, and much remains to be done before we can realize our
wishes and the great object of our long-continued efforts in this very
interesting department of Christian morals. And it is in order to effect
this we now address you as the public servants of the Church, and officially
intrusted with the administration of its discipline. We have too much
confidence in the intelligence and piety of the persons addressed — the
great body of our charge — to suppose for a moment that any apology is
necessary for offering you the reflections and advice we propose, believing,
as we do, that the intemperance we discourage, and would banish from the
Church and the world, is alike unworthy and unbecoming all who bear the
Christian name, or would be considered useful and reputable members of
society in general. The vice of which we complain, and against indulgence in
which we would urgently and affectionately remonstrate, is broadly and
unsparingly condemned in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as
directly inconsistent with Christian character, and fatally contravening in
the hopes and claims of moral excellence. As Christians we how to the
authority of inspiration; and its language is too explicit and solemn on
this subject to be misunderstood, or waived, by any who are not utterly
reckless both of the welfare of this life and the more weighty interests of
immortality in another.
In the language of the Bible on this subject there is nothing deficient or
equivocal; and although we do not propose an enlarged discussion, yet we
cannot refrain from asking your attention to its fearful and varied
testimony against the sin of intemperance, the condemnation of which is
uttered in every variety of form and phrase. ‘Be not drunk with wine — wine
and new wine take away the heart — wine is a mocker — strong drink is raging
— he transgresseth by wine — they have erred through wine, and through
strong drink are out of the way — the priest and the people have erred
through strong I drink — woe to them that rise up early to follow strong
drink and continue till wine inflame them: therefore hell hath enlarged
herself, and opened her mouth without measure — woe to them that drink wine
in bowls — be not among wine-bibbers — who hath woe, sorrow, contentions,
and babbling? they that continue long at the wine; they that go to seek
mixed wine — woe to them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength
to mingle strong drink — he is a drunkard, and all the men of the city shall
strike him with stones, that he die — it is not for kings to drink wine, nor
princes strong drink — he who shall add drunkenness to thirst, the Lord
shall blot out his name from under heaven — woe to the drunkards of Ephraim
they shall be trodden under foot — while they are drunken they shall be
destroyed as stubble full dry — blessed art thou, O land, when thy princes
eat and drink for strength, and not for drunkenness — woe to him that giveth
his neighbor drink, that putteth the bottle to his mouth, and maketh him
drunken .’ A statute of perpetual obligation, throughout all generations of
the priesthood, was, that they were not to ‘drink wine or strong drink’
while engaged in the service of the tabernacle; and in another connection
the obligation is made equally binding: ‘Neither shall the priests drink
wine when they enter into the inner court.’ The drunkenness of Noah, Lot,
Nadab, Abihu, and Nabat, incurred the displeasure of heaven; while the vow
of the humble Rechabites, ‘We will drink no wine;’ is commemorated by the
special and public approval of Jehovah; and to these we might add the
examples of the wife of Manoah, Hannah, Samuel, and the Nazarites, as
securing the sanction of divine commendation. We need scarcely add that
these solemn and admonitory lessons of the Jewish Scriptures on the subject
of intemperance are enforced in the language of persuasion, as well as the
most fearful denunciation.
“And the language and warnings of the New Testament are equally decisive and
uncompromising in the utter condemnation of the vice of intemperance in all
its forms. ‘Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God.’ Drunkenness is
ranked among ‘the works of the flesh,’ and is expressly said to exclude the
delinquent from the kingdom of heaven. ‘If any man be a drunkard, with such
a one, no, not to eat.’ Excess of wine is classed with the enormities of
‘lasciviousness, revelings, and banquetings.’ It is the offspring of
darkness: ‘They that are drunken are drunken in the night;’ ‘Take heed that
your hearts be not overcharged with drunkenness;’ ‘Let us walk honestly, not
in drunkenness — be not drunk with wine — the evil servant who drinks with
the drunken shall be cut asunder, and have his portion with hypocrites and
unbelievers.’ The Pharisees thought the could not more effectually reproach
our Lord than to style him ‘a wine-bibber!’ St. Paul ranks it among the
virtues of Christian bishops and deacons, that they ‘be not given to
wine.’ Look also at the example of John the Baptist and a greater than he.
The stern and unyielding purity of the former in this as well as in other
particulars is held up to the notice and imitation of all ‘who name the name
of Christ.’ And when the intoxicating cup usually tempered to suffering
malefactors, to procure insensibility to pain and lessen the agony of death,
was by the courtesy of Jewish and Roman cruelty tendered our Lord, the
lustrous sufferer disdained the unholy succor, and trod the winepress of the
wrath of his Father without the dishonorable resort of accepting unworthy
means to sustain him in the conflict. Would to God that we, that all
Christians in affliction and trial, might do as he did, in the hope of
overcoming with him! And allow us to add here, that such are the terminal
and fatal effects of this species of intemperance, thus forcibly portrayed
and denounced in the Bible, that wine, used as a generic term, denoting
strong intoxicating drinks of every kind, and confining the remarks to its
abuse, is made to symbolize the wrath of God and the misery of the damned in
a future state of retribution! It follows, therefore, that no person of
ordinary intelligence can consult the pages of inspiration without
perceiving at once that the common use of alcoholic intoxicating liquors, of
whatever kind, is strictly and unequivocally forbidden in the Scriptures, as
plainly and fatally injurious to the best interests of man, in time and in
eternity; and as in other instances, so in this, the beneficent Author of
our being has unnaturally conformed the constitution and laws of our nature
to the pre-existing purpose of his will in relation to the immutable
principles of right and wrong, and accordingly all our physical aptitudes
and moral instincts resist the allurements and motives to a course of
intemperate indulgence, until a series of vicious experiment and training,
offering rebellion to the best feelings of our nature, and grossly violative
of every principle of duty and moral obligation, shall have prepared the
victims of intemperance for all that is monstrous in folly or hateful in
crime.
God, who is the Author of nature, no less than of revelation, has abundantly
provided for the essential happiness and relative usefulness of mankind but
the experience of all ages and nations has furnished the most indubitable
proof that the use of ardent spirits is totally inconsistent with either,
and thus opposed to His benevolent intentions of heaven and provisions of
nature, must be considered as a transgression of the will of God.
“And this view of the subject becomes the more convincing and striking when
we attend to the peculiar nature and properties of all intoxicating drinks.
In all these alcohol is the principle of all intoxication, and it has been
clearly demonstrated by the researches and experiments of ministry and
pharmacy, in connection with the structure and pathology of the human frame,
that alcohol is an essentially active poison, and that the constant use of
it, in any shape, must necessarily injure health, and finally destroy life
itself.
The mischievous principle of inebriety, of which we now speak, cannot be
made to nourish and invigorate the body. It is by the appointment of heaven
and the constitution of our common nature rendered incapable of producing
such a result. Its conversion into chyle, after being received into the
stomach, and its subsequent appropriation by means of the blood vessels, for
the purpose of renewing and invigorating the body, are known to be
impossible. No alcoholic substance can be controlled, digested, or
appropriated by the stomach. When received there it immediately diffuses
itself throughout the whole system — it penetrates the very substance of the
body, the brain, the nerves, and the blood vessels. All become excited and
inflamed; the functions of the entire system become deranged; its action is
irregular, and the well-adjusted play of its parts and mechanism disturbed
and disordered; often deranging not only the functions of the body, but even
its organic structure; and in whatever assignable measure alcohol, found in
all spirituous liquors, and in most of our wines and malt drinks, may be
drunk, these effects must necessarily follow, in a proportionate degree. And
hence the wisdom and kindness of our Creator, manifestly shown in the fact
that the appetite for this popular but mischievous poison is unnatural,
artificially acquired, and a perversion of the dictates and provisions of
nature. And in our judgment this view of the subject furnishes us with a
strong additional argument in favor of the utter rejection of alcoholic
drinks, except as a medicine, when the want of proper skill, or other
adequate means, may authorize, in rare instances, an exception to the
general rule of total abstinence.
We are the more disposed to press the necessity of entire abstinence,
because there seems to be no safe line of distinction between the moderate
and immoderate use of intoxicating drinks, — the transition from a temperate
to an intemperate use of them is almost as certain as it is insensible;
indeed, with us it is a question of great moral interest, whether a man can
indulge in their use at all, and be considered temperate. We have seen that
the natural, unperverted appetite of man does not ask for them, and the only
motive that can possibly determine such an indulgence, is to obtain from
them a vivid impression upon the nerves, more or less agreeable at the time,
but utterly oblivious of better, because more salutary feelings. This result
is unnatural, and of course it offers violence to the constitutional order
and functionary uniformity of nature, and we respectfully submit, whether
the means therefore must not be sinful.
“It has been already remarked, that the essential constituent in
intoxicating liquors, producing inebriety, is alcohol, and that this is
found, in large proportions, not only in the different kinds of distilled
liquors, but also in most of the wines, and vinous, as well as malt
preparations drunk in this country. Who is not alarmed, not to say
confounded, when he reflects upon the amount of this bewitching poison which
is found in all our fashionable drinks! How can a Christian account to his
conscience and his God for swallowing daily an amount of carbon, oxygen, and
hydrogen, of which alcohol is compounded, and which, if taken separately
from other neutralizing ingredients, would deprive him of life perhaps in a
few hours! In a bottle of brandy, for example, (we are guided in the
estimate by Saussure and Brande,) there is more alcohol, by actual
measurement, than water; — in our best wines, say Port and Madeira, as
received and used in this country, nearly one half is alcohol; about six
ounces of this poison will be found in a quart of strong cider, and little
less than four in a bottle of porter or ale! In a brief address, however, we
can only bring these facts into view in a summary way. We propose them for
examination and reflection, and we implore the thousands under our charge to
bestow upon the whole subject the attention it so obviously and pressingly
deserves and demands.
“The great and increasing interest, the deep and lasting stake we must
always have, as a Church, in preventing and curing the evils of
intemperance, will furnish an obvious and commanding vindication of the
course we have adopted, in making this appeal to the good sense and
enlightened piety of the Methodist Episcopal Church. We consider all
intemperance, whether in its incipient or more advanced stages, as an abuse
of the physical force and vigor of man, and seriously deducting from the
integrity of his mental powers and moral purposes; and we therefore invoke
the aid of our people in an attempt to banish the evil from our Church
altogether.
“We would remark here, also, that the immorality and curse of intemperance
are most fearfully evinced, not only in its immediate and incipient, but in
its final effects and relative bearings upon the confirmed intemperate, and
others found in necessary connection or casual contact with them: impiety
and worthlessness, disease and death, are its necessary attendants. God and
nature have so disowned and frowned upon it, as to stamp it with the
character of unmingled evil. The redeeming element or aspect about it. In it
best and most imposing furnish it offers nothing but plague and pollution.
God forbids it; it is the object of nature’s abhorrence, and its uniform
effects demonstrate that to persist in its practice is to renounce the
friendship of heaven and claim kindred, not with brutes, but infernals. All
therefore, must look upon it as an evil unhallowed by any, the smallest
good. We have seen that it invariably undermines health and leads to death,
and, in most instances death untimely and disgraceful. However insidious in
its progress, it is fatal in its issue. We need not ask you to look at the
brutal, the polluted, and demoralizing victim himself, — a curse and a
nuisance, whatever his name, or wherever found. We need not quote his
beggared family and heart broken connections. We need not cite you to the
wretched thousands found as criminals in your penitentiaries, patients in
your hospitals, lunatics in your asylums, and vagabonds in your streets!
Few, perhaps, are aware of the extent, the secret and insidious spread of
the evil we would arrest. Its destructive influence is felt in every
department of business, duty, and society: in our legislative halls; at the
bar of justice; upon the judicial bench, and even in the pulpit. A large
portion, we fear, of the most important and responsible business of the
nation is often transacted under the influence, in a greater or less degree,
of alcoholic excitement; and can those be innocent who contribute to secure
such a result, whether by the pestilential example of temperate drinking, as
it is called, or the still more criminal means of furnishing the poisonous
preparation by manufacture and traffic for the degradation and ruin of
others?
The man who drinks intemperately ruins himself, and is the cause of much
discomfort an inquietude, and perhaps actual misery, in the social scene in
which he moves; but the manufacturer, and those who are engaged in the
traffic of ardent spirits and other intoxicating liquors, do the work of
death by wholesale; they are devoted by misguided enterprise to the ruin of
human kind, and become directly accessory, although not intended by them, to
the present shame and final destruction of hundreds and thousands. And we
gravely ask, with no common solicitude, Can God, who is just, as well as
good, hold that church innocent which is found cherishing in her bosom so
awful and universal an evil? We have seen this evil broadly and
unequivocally denounced in the Scriptures, as an utter curse, and big with
ruin to the best hopes of man. Nature and Providence unite their testimony,
and award to it the same condemnation. Our Church has long borne a similar
testimony, and this is especially true of the father and founder of
Methodism.
“He says of ardent spirits in general, ‘First of all, sacredly abstain from
all spirituous liquors; touch them not on any pretense whatever.’ On their
manufacture and sale he remarks, ‘It is amazing that the preparation or
selling of this poison should be permitted, I will not say in any Christian
country, but in any civilized state!’ He pronounces the gain of the
trafficker in ardent spirits, ‘the price of blood,’ and adds, emphatically,
‘Let not any lover of virtue and truth say one word in favor of this
monster. Let no lover of mankind open his mouth to extenuate the guilt of
it. Oppose it as you would oppose the devil, whose offspring and likeness it
is.’ Of grocers, in this traffic, he affirms, ‘They murder mankind by
wholesale, and drive them to hell like sheep.’ He denounces both the
manufacture and the sale of spirituous liquors, except for mechanical and
medicinal purposes, as a gross immorality declaring, ‘None can gain in this
way by swallowing up his neighbors substance, without gaining the damnation
of hell!’ And hence one of the original rules of the Methodist societies, as
drawn up by John and Charles Wesley, precluded ‘drunkenness, buying or
selling spirituous liquors, or drinking them, except in cases of extreme
necessity.’ And we cannot but fear that the alteration of this rule by the
American Methodists, and the substitution of another less unequivocal in its
character, since 1790, have been attended with but little good to any, and
perhaps with direct injury to thousands. And now that the engrossing
question of total abstinence is arresting the attention of most evangelical
churches in the United States, and in many of them becoming a term of
membership, we are fully convinced it would be criminal in us to remain
silent, and not lend our aid and co-operation in purging the church and
redeeming the nation from this insidious, yet alarming and desolating evil.
Finally, persuaded as we are that intemperance, in all its aspects and
gradations, is a physical evil, unmitigated by any mixture of good, and also
a moral offense against the laws of God, and the claims of Christian piety,
unmodified by any indemnifying consideration whatever, we would at all
times, but at this time especially, when such combined and powerful efforts
are making to arrest the evil, cast in our dividend of social and moral aid,
and do all in our power to accomplish an object as every way momentous as it
is desirable. And we close by remarking, that we look upon all as implicated
in the duty and the interest, and we shall cheerfully and promptly concur
with all in an effort to expel the demon of intemperance, not only from our
churches, but from the nation, whose welfare and fortunes must be always
viewed in intimate connection with its morals.”
With a view to secure the hearty co-operation of ministers and people in the
cause of missions, sabbath schools, and the distribution of Bibles and
tracts, a clause was incorporated in the discipline making it the special
duty of all those who have the charge of circuits and stations to attend to
these things regularly and to aid them in this good work, it was also made
the duty of presiding elders “to promote, by all proper means, the cause of
missions and Sunday schools, and the publication, at our own press, of
Bibles, tracts, and Sunday school books.”
The American Colonization Society was now gauling more and more on the
affection and confidence of the American people. To aid in its benevolent
enterprise, this General Conference passed a resolution authorizing the
bishops to appoint agents in behalf of that society.
The affairs of our brethren in Canada were once more brought before the
conference. By a reference to the proceedings of the General Conference of
1828, it will be perceived that a claim which they made upon a portion of
the Book Concern was deferred for future adjustment. This claim was
presented to this conference in a forcible appeal from their delegates, the
Rev. Messrs. William Case and William Ryerson, who had been deputed by the
Canada conference to urge it upon this General Conference. Though it was
generally agreed by the members of the conference that the Canada brethren
had a just claim upon a portion of the Book Concern, yet, after a full
examination of the subject, the conclusion was drawn that the General
Conference had no constitutional authority to make the apportionment without
first obtaining the concurrence of the annual conferences. A resolution was
therefore passed, referring the entire subject to the annual conferences,
and authorizing the book agents at New York, whenever it should be certified
to them by the secretaries of the annual conferences that “three-fourths of
all the members of the several annual conferences, who shall be present and
vote on the subject, shall to make a division of the stock of the Book
Concern, in proportion to the number of traveling preachers, including those
on trial and superannuated, in both connections. But as three-fourths of all
the voters were never obtained, the settlement was not made, and therefore
the whole subject was postponed for final adjustment to the General
Conference of 1836.
As, however, the Canada conference had not yet fully organized itself
according to its intention when it declared itself independent, in
conformity to the stipulations between it and the General Conference of
1828, the following resolutions were passed by this conference: —
1. That if the conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the province
of Upper Canada shall, previously to the next General Conference, elect
a bishop for said Church, and request any one or more of the bishops,
together with any two or more of the elders of the Methodist Episcopal
Church in the United States, to ordain him, such bishop or bishops shall
be at liberty so to do, provided the expediency and propriety of a
compliance with such request be in accordance with the judgment of such
bishop or bishops: and, provided also, that nothing herein contained be
contrary to, or inconsistent with any law or laws of said province.
2. That until a bishop shall have been elected and ordained for the
Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada, any bishop or bishops of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, on the request of the
conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Upper Canada, shall be
at liberty to ordain any elders or deacons for the said Methodist
Episcopal Church in Canada, subject to the provisions and limitations
specified in the foregoing resolution.”
The following report of the committee on the episcopacy was concurred in by
the conference: —
1. That they have examined the administration in the several annual
conferences for the last four years, and find that it has been correct,
and highly satisfactory, and therefore is entitled to the support and
approbation of the General Conference.
2. In consequence of the lamented death of our beloved bishop George, the
extension of the work under our care and oversight, and the increase of
the annual conferences, it is recommended that we elect two additional
bishops at the present conference.
3. As it is considered by the committee an evil of no small magnitude for
the same preachers to be continued from year to year in town and city
stations, the superintendents are respectfully requested to diversify
appointments of this sort as much as possible among preachers deemed
suitable for such appointments.
4. As our charitable institutions, colleges, and seminaries of learning are
continually increasing, and as the American Colonization Society is
rising in its claims on the American community, it is considered proper
for our bishops, whenever in their judgment, and in the judgment of an
annual conference, it shall be found expedient, to appoint any preacher
as an agent to promote the interest of either or all of these
institutions.
5. In consequence of the age and increased infirmities of our venerable and
beloved bishop McKendree, it is recommended that his present relation be
continued, and that the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars be allowed
him annually for extra expenses, and to defray the expenses of a
traveling companion, and one hundred dollars for the allowance of said
traveling companion, and that he be authorized to draw this amount from
the Book Concern.
6. It is recommended that the rule to estimate the allowance of the
bishops, for family expenses, be so altered as to make it the duty of
the annual conference, within whose bounds the family or families of the
bishop or bishops may reside, to estimate the amount necessary to meet
such expenses.
7. Considering the great extent of the work throughout this vast continent,
committed to the oversight of the episcopacy, the committee deem it
inexpedient to require each of our bishops to travel throughout the
whole of their extensive charge during the recess of the General
Conference, and therefore recommend to the episcopacy to make such an
apportionment of the work among themselves as shall best suit their own
convenience, and in their judgment most effectually promote the general
good.”
Allusion is made in the above report to the enlargement of our work in
connection with the death of Bishop George. The Illinois and New York
conferences were divided, and three new ones were formed, namely, Troy,
Indiana, and Alabama, making in all twenty-two. For these reasons, on the
twenty-second day of the session, two additional bishops, namely, James
Osgood Andrew, and John Emory, were elected, the former by a vote of one
hundred and forty, out of two hundred and twenty-three, the whole number of
voters, and the latter by a vote of one hundred and twenty-five. Both having
a constitutional majority on the first balloting, they were declared duly
elected, and on the 25th they were consecrated in the usual form, by prayer
and imposition of the hands of Bishops McKendree, Roberts, Soule, and
Hedding.
Another important regulation was made at this General Conference. When the
delegated General Conference was created in 1808, the number of delegates
was limited to not more than one to every five, nor less than one to every
seven members, and according to the proviso, neither this nor any other
restrictive regulation could be altered except “upon the joint
recommendation of all the annual conferences,” and then by “a vote of
two-thirds of the General Conference succeeding.” As, however, the number of
delegates had so increased that the General Conference of 1824 felt it to be
burdensome both to themselves and others for so many to assemble together
every fourth year, a recommendation had been sent the rounds of the annual
conferences, requesting them to empower the General Conference of 1828 to
diminish the number of delegates. This recommendation passed all the annual
conferences except the Philadelphia; and as it required all the conferences
to concur before the alteration could be made by the General Conference, the
measure was defeated by the nonoccurrence of this single annual conference.
It was thus that we all began to feel the pressure of the yoke which had
been imposed upon us by the General Conference of 1808, by which we were
compelled to submit to the burden until permitted to relieve ourselves by
the concurrence of all the conferences in the Union. This unwise provision
put it completely in the power of a very small minority to rule the whole
body, on any question arising out of the restrictive rules. From such a
grievous yoke, “which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear,” the
General Conference of 1828 made an effort to break loose by passing the
following resolution: —
“Resolved, That this General Conference respectfully suggest to the several
annual conferences the propriety of recommending to the next General
Conference, so to alter and amend the rules of our Discipline by which the
General Conference is restricted in its powers to make rules and regulations
for the Church, commonly called the restrictive rules, as to make the
proviso, at the close of the said restrictive rules, No. 6, read thus: —
“Provided, nevertheless, that upon the concurrent recommendation of
three-fourths of all the annual conferences who shall be present and vote on
such recommendation, then a majority of two-thirds of the General Conference
succeeding shall suffice to alter any of such regulations, except the first.
And, also,
“Whenever such alteration or alterations shall have first been recommended
by two-thirds of the General Conference, so soon as three-fourths of the
members of the annual conferences shall have concurred, as aforesaid, with
such recommendation, such alteration or alterations shall take effect.”
This recommendation had been submitted to the several annual conferences,
and had obtained a constitutional majority of all the voters. Accordingly it
came legitimately before this General Conference to alter the proviso, and
then to recommend to the several annual conferences to authorize the
lessening the number of delegates, and both of these powers were exercised.
Without going into a detail of all the circumstances which led to the
result, it is sufficient to say, that the proviso, which had held us at bay
for so long a time, was so altered on the recommendation of the General
Conference of 1832, and the constitutional vote of the annual conferences,
subsequently, as to read as follows: —
“Provided, nevertheless, that upon the concurrent recommendation of
three-fourths of all the members of the several annual conferences, who
shall be present and vote on such recommendation, then a majority of
two-thirds of the General Conference succeeding shall suffice to alter any
of the above restrictions, excepting the first article and also, whenever
such alteration or alterations shall have been first recommended by
two-thirds of the General Conference, so soon as three-fourths of the
members of all the annual conferences shall have concurred as aforesaid,
such alteration or alterations shall take effect.”
And then the number of delegates was to be graduated as follows: —
“They shall not allow of more than one representative for every fourteen
members of the annual conference, nor allow of a less number than one for
every thirty: provided, nevertheless, that when there shall be in any annual
conference a fraction of two-thirds the number which shall be fixed for the
ratio of representation, such annual conference shall be entitled to an
additional delegate for such fraction; and provided, also, that no
conference shall be denied the privilege of two delegates.”
It will be perceived that a motion may now be made by either the General
Conference or the annual conferences, for an alteration in any of the
restrictive regulations except the first, and that, as it requires to be
seconded by the other, and concurred in by a majority of three-fourths of
the voters in the annual conferences, or two-thirds of the General
Conference, to make it obligatory, the rights of each are secured, and the
voices of all are heard. And as this new regulation was made for the purpose
of obviating the prohibitory character of the old proviso, which amounted in
fact to almost a total and absolute withholding of all power from the
General Conference ever to make any alteration, however imperative the
necessity might appear, it seems preposterous to give such an interpretation
to the language of the present proviso, as to involve us in the very same
dilemma as that from which it was designed, and therefore made and adopted
for the express purpose of delivering us! Such an interpretation involves
the framers of this proviso in the most inexcusable of all blunders — a
fault from which their acknowledged abilities and known integrity must for
ever exempt them. We had been laboring under the galling yoke of this severe
restriction for eight years, struggling the whole time to free ourselves
from its iron bondage, and then securing our freedom, as we were simple
enough to believe, by a substitute, when lo and behold, when we come to test
it by actual experiment, it proves to be the same galling yoke still! An
absurdity this too glaring to be admitted.
Notwithstanding all that had been done for the relief and support of our
worn-out preachers, widows, and orphans, they were still but poorly provided
for, and hence the following additional regulation was made respecting the
manner in which their just and pressing claims might be met: —
“It shall be the duty of each annual conference to take measures, from year
to year, to raise moneys in every circuit and station within its bounds, for
the relief of its necessitous, superannuated, supernumerary ministers,
widows, and orphans. And the conference shall appoint a committee to
estimate the several sums necessary to be allowed for the extra expenses of
such necessitous claimants, who shall be paid in proportion to the estimate
made and the moneys received.”
The following was also enacted in reference to those therein mentioned, who
reside beyond the bounds of their respective conferences: —
“Every superannuated preacher who may reside without the bounds of the
conference of which he is a member; shall annually forward to his conference
a certificate of his character and ministerial conduct, together with an
account of the number and circumstances of his family, signed by the
presiding elder of his district, or the preacher in charge of his circuit or
station, within whose bounds he may reside, without which the conference
shall not be required to allow his claim.”
Provision had already been made for the appointment of preachers as
teachers, professors, or presidents of academies and colleges under our own
control and patronage. This conference extended the authority to the bishops
for other colleges, in the following language: —
“Resolved, That the superintendents be authorized, whenever requested by an
annual conference to do it, to appoint a preacher to a college not under our
direction, and to continue him in the same manner as at the institutions
which we patronize.
It seems that a practice had prevailed to some extent, whenever a preacher
wished to attend to some temporal business for his own convenience, to be
left, at his own request, without any regular appointment for a year, less
or more. This had been found to be accompanied with so many difficulties,
that the bishops felt it their duty to call the attention of the conference
to the subject, and its consideration resulted in the adoption of the
following: —
“Resolved, That it is inconsistent with the spirit and interest of the
itinerancy system to leave effective men without appointments at their own
request.”
The following was also passed, fixing the responsibility of those preachers
who might be appointed traveling agents for any literary or other
institution, as already authorized by existing regulations: —
“Resolved, That in all cases where agents are appointed, their names shall
be attached to some district; and in case of any complaint, they shall be
held responsible to the presiding elder of said district.”
It appears that a difference of opinion prevailed among the bishops
respecting the meaning of the last resolution in the report of the committee
on the episcopacy, which said, that it was considered “inexpedient to
require each of the bishop’s to travel throughout the whole of their
extensive charge, during the recess of the General Conference, and therefore
recommend them to make such an apportionment of the work among themselves as
shall best suit their own convenience, and in their judgment most
effectually promote the general good.” It appears that some of the bishops
were in favor of districting the work for the four years, and this was also
the opinion of some of the delegates, each one confining his labors to his
particular charge until the next General Conference, and so understood the
above item in the report, while others contended that this matter was left
to be regulated as the bishops themselves might judge proper. To settle this
question, the bishops submitted to the conference the following queries: —
“The bishops, being desirous of understanding with clearness and certainty
the resolution passed by the General Conference at its present session, in
relation to the episcopal visitations of the annual conferences, in the
course of the ensuing four years, beg the favor of a vote of the conference,
without debate, in answer to the following question, viz. — Was it the
intention of the General Conference, by the resolution above alluded to,
simply to relieve the bishops from the influences of the resolution passed
at the last General Conference on the same subject, and to leave them now at
liberty, on their joint and several responsibility, to make such
arrangements among themselves, for the entire administration, and for the
visitations of the annual conferences, as they shall judge most conducive to
the general good; and without designing to give direction or advice whether
it be or be not expedient for each of the bishops in the course of the four
years to visit each of the annual conferences, should they themselves find
it convenient and practicable, and judge it for the general good so to
do?”
And it is added in the journal, “The conference voted an answer to the above
question in the affirmative.”
The following resolution in relation to preachers admitted into an annual
conference, and not ordained at the time, was passed, and should, therefore,
I think, be considered as a standing rule, though it was not incorporated in
the Discipline: —
“Provided always, that when a preacher shall have passed his examination,
and been admitted into full connection, and elected to deacon’s office, but
fails of his ordination through the absence of the bishop, his eligibility
to the office of an elder shall run from the time of his election to the
office of a deacon.”
Having completed their work, read and improved of their journal, the
conference was adjourned with singing and prayer, and the apostolic
benediction, late on Monday evening, May 28th, 1832, to meet again in
Cincinnati, May 1, 1836.
_________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 12
From the close of the General Conference of 1832 to the beginning of the
General Conference of 1836
We had now six bishops, and twenty-two annual conferences to be attended in
the course of twelve months. But as the health of Bishop McKendree was fast
declining, no dependence could be placed on him for effective service, and
accordingly the General Conference, as we have seen, released him from that
responsibility. The effective labor, therefore, devolved upon the remaining
five bishops, who accordingly had each four conferences and a fraction to
attend every year, besides the duty of ranging through their respective
districts of labor — as far and as frequently as practicable.
The unanimity and energy with which the late General Conference entered into
the missionary cause, gave it a new impulse, and inspired its friends with
courage to persevere in their exertions to urge it forward.
Liberia had, for several years, been selected by the managers of our
Missionary Society as a suitable place for missionary enterprise, and much
had been said and written in favor of sending laborers into that distant and
destitute field. Hitherto, however, the bishops had not been able to select
such a man for the work as they considered suitable. Some had offered and
been rejected, and those who were considered best qualified, were unwilling
to go. At the late General Conference the subject was pressed upon its
attention with renewed zeal, and the bishops were then, particularly by a
committee from the Young Men’s Missionary Society of New York, who pledged
money for its support., to use their influence to send one missionary or
more to this inviting field of labor.
That the reader may understand the high demands which this place had upon
the exertions and benevolence of our Church, for a supply of its spiritual
wants, the following particulars respecting the settlement, and present
state and prospects of Liberia are given.
Slavery in the United States may be considered the remote, and Christian
philanthropy the proximate, cause of establishing the colony in Africa, now
known as Liberia, under the auspices of the American Colonization Society.
This society was formed in 1816, by some benevolent individuals, with a view
to transport to Africa such free people of color from the United States as
might consent to emigrate, and establish them as a colony, with all the
rights and privileges of freemen. Though at first the society was viewed
with suspicion by some, fearing it was designed chiefly to rivet the chains
of slavery yet tighter on the slave, by removing the free colored people out
of the land; yet as its character was gradually developed, the public
confidence was acquired, and its friends and supporters were daily
increased. The first experiment, however, to establish a colony on the coast
of Africa proved unpropitious. The society was unfortunate in the selection
of the site for this important colony. This was at the mouth of the Sherbro
river, which separates the country of Sierra Leone from the Grain coast, on
the western shores of Africa, latitude seven north, in the province of
Guiana. The country is generally flat, exposed to the most intense heat from
October to March, when violent and almost uninterrupted rains descend until
the month of June, when the heat again commences and continues until July,
and this is followed by rain until October. An atmosphere created by such
physical causes must be extremely unhealthy to either Europeans or
Americans, and so it proved in the present instance.
In 1818, a number of emigrants sailed from the port of New York, in the ship
Elizabeth, accompanied by that eminent philanthropist and Christian
minister, the Rev. Mr. Bacon, whose commendable zeal in the cause of African
colonization led him to embark in this hazardous undertaking, as the
principal agent of the society. Many of these voluntary exiles from their
country were truly pious, some of whom were members of our Church. The fate
of this infant colony is well known. The place selected, as before said, for
their residence proved insalubrious, and the poisonous malaria soon swept
them from the face of the earth and among the dead was the pious and self
sacrificing Bacon himself. This spread a temporary gloom over the prospects
of this society, and furnished its enemies with renewed arguments against
the enterprise. Opposition, however, awakened new energies in its behalf,
and led to more vigorous measures to insure its success. New resources were
called into existence, men and means were multiplied, and a more powerful
pulsation was felt in the American community in favor of the sons and
daughters of Africa.
To avoid the results of the former experiment, another and a more salubrious
site was selected for the colony in contemplation. In 1821 the society
purchased of the native chiefs a district of country on the western coast of
Africa, two hundred and eighty miles in length, and from twenty to thirty
miles in breadth, on the Grain coast, in about six degrees north latitude,
including the cape of Montserado. A site for a town was laid out between the
Mesurado and St. Paul’s rivers, both of which empty into the Montserado bay,
which opens into the Atlantic Ocean. Here a settlement was commenced under
favorable circumstances, and the town was called, in honor of the popular
chief magistrate who then occupied the presidential chair, Monrovia. These
emigrants were accompanied and headed by the pious and lamented Ashman, who
finally fell a victim to his zeal in striving to build up a colony in this
place.
The prosperity which attended this second attempt at African colonization,
strengthened and fortified the hearts of its friends and patrons, at the
same time that it disarmed its opponents of many of their arguments against
the enterprise. Hence it was patronized by some of the most benevolent
spirits of the age, by most of the ecclesiastical bodies in the Union, and
by many of the state legislatures, and therefore seemed to promise a most
happy issue. The colonists were generally happy and contented, and invited
their brethren in America to come over and join them. Hence many masters
liberated their slaves on condition of their emigrating to Liberia, and
others, already free, accompanied them to this home of their fathers.
Nor were the churches inattentive to these movements. Even foreigners were
attracted by the spirit of Christian philanthropy to this place, and several
Swiss missionaries had already laid their bones in the soil of Liberia,
while attempting to convey to the inhabitants the glad tidings of salvation.
As before said, our Missionary Society had not been an indifferent spectator
to the spiritual wants of these people. They had gone from our shores; many
of them were members of our Church, some local preachers of reputable
standing; and they all sent a cry to us for help. The subject had been
before the General Conference from time to time, and the board of managers
had passed resolutions at several different times in favor of establishing a
mission in Liberia. At length our hopes were realized by the offering of the
Rev. Melville B. Cox, at the late General Conference, as a missionary to
Africa, and his services were accepted by the bishops. After making the
needful preparation, on the 6th of October, 1832, Mr. Cox set sail in the
ship Jupiter, from Norfolk, Va., and after a long and tedious voyage, in
which he stopped at St. Jago, the Cape of Good hope, and at Sierra Leone, he
arrived in Liberia on the 8th of March, 1833, and was most cordially
received by the acting governor, Mr. Williams, who was a member of our
Church, and a local preacher of reputable character in the colony.
The heart of brother Cox seemed to be set upon Liberia from the hour of his
appointment, and he accordingly records his great joy at finding himself
safely landed upon its shores, and was much delighted at the prospect before
him. But alas! he scarcely had time to mature his plans for future
usefulness, before the fatal malaria of the place infused its poison into
his system, and he soon fell a victim to the ravages of the African fever.
That he was eminently qualified for his station, so far as mental and
spiritual attainments are concerned, is abundantly attested by his intimate
friends, and by the monuments of his talents and piety which he has left
behind. I say so far as mental and spiritual attainments are concerned, for
his physical constitution had been much weakened by disease before he
embarked on this mission, and he was, therefore, by no means able to
withstand the shocks of an African climate.
But though he thus fell a martyr to the work of introducing the gospel into
that part of Africa, yet he laid the foundation for a missionary
establishment in Liberia, on which his successors have reared a noble
superstructure, to the glory of the God of missions. The letters which he
transmitted to the managers, describing the state and prospects of the
colony, were of such an encouraging character, that a new impulse was given
to the holy cause in which he had embarked, and inspired its friends with
renewed zeal to prosecute it with more vigorous exertions. And the inspiring
language of Cox to a friend on the eve of his departure for Liberia,
operated as a charm upon the hearts of all who were engaged in this work.
Being asked what should be written upon his tombstone, should he die in
Africa, he replied, ‘Let thousands fall before Africa be given up!” This
noble declaration when repeated to the congregation at time his funeral
discourse was preached in the John Street church thrilled through every
heart, and no doubt inspired others to enter the ranks which had been
weakened by the death of Cox.
Though his death occurred in 1833, it may be as well to say all that is
necessary of brother Cox in this place. On his arrival in Liberia, he set
himself immediately at work, of preparing for preaching the gospel to the
colonists, and establishing a church according to the regulations of the
Methodist discipline. He was much aided and cheered in his work by the Rev.
Mr. Pinney, a Presbyterian minister, who had preceded him in the service of
the American Colonization Society, as the governor of the colony. Finding
missionary premises at Monrovia, prepared by the Swiss missionaries before
mentioned, but which were now vacated by their death, Mr. Cox made a
purchase of them for five hundred dollars, which was afterward sanctioned by
the board of managers. The house he occupied both for domestic purposes and
for holding meetings.
It has been already remarked that there were in Liberia members of our
Church, and others, who, though not of our communion, held to our doctrines,
and dissented only on some points of Church polity. These were convened by
Mr. Cox to when he presented his credentials, and he was nearly unanimously
acknowledged in his proper character, and on the ninth day of April, 1833,
the following articles of agreement were adopted as the basis of their
future action: —
“Whereas the Methodist Church in Liberia, West Africa, is yet in its
infancy, poor and in need of aid, inexperienced and in need of counsel; and
whereas, by our direction a correspondence was opened with the Young Men’s
Missionary Society of New York, and a missionary desired to be sent over to
our help from the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of
America, which we ever wish to acknowledge as our parent church; — and
whereas the said Methodist Episcopal Church has kindly sent to our aid a man
whom they have adjudged to be fitted for the work, therefore: —
Resolved,
1. That we resign the superintendency of all our churches in Liberia to the
care of the said missionary, and that we will do all in our power to aid
him in promoting the work of God among ourselves, and in extending the
interests of his mission among those around us.
2. That we will adopt the “Articles of Religion,” the “General Rules,” and
the moral discipline in general of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the
United States of America; and that we will follow its ‘’spiritual” and
“temporal economy,” both to the letter and the spirit, as far as our
changed circumstances will possibly allow us so to do.
3. That, though we regret exceedingly that the said missionary has not come
out properly authorized to ordain and set apart others to the office of
deacons and elders in the church of God, we will nevertheless patiently
wait until Providence shall bring us this great blessing, and that
hereafter none of us will administer the sacraments unless we have been,
or until we shall have been properly authorized so to do by the regular
episcopacy of the parent Church in America.
4. That we acknowledge the authority of the General Conference of the said
Methodist Episcopal Church and that, considering our isolated situation,
the wide distance between us and them, and the rapid accession that we
confidently hope will attend the growth of our ministry here, we desire,
as soon as may be, to be acknowledged by it as one of its annual
conferences but that we will leave it entirely with the General
Conference to say whether we shall be considered as a missionary
station, as an annual conference, or as an independent Methodist
Episcopal church in Africa.
5. That in view of the hazard of life which always must attend a change of
our climate for another — of the mortality which has attended most of
the white missionaries who have nobly come to our aid, and of the fact
that we have not in our church a single regularly ordained colored elder
in the colony, we earnestly request any one of our bishops, and they are
hereby requested, to ordain to the offices of deacon and elder our
brother, A. D. Williams; a man whom we judge to be well qualified for
said offices, and who has been duly elected to these offices by our
conference, and who, moreover, has been well acclimated and a long
resident in the colony.
6. That, in view of the great responsibility of the ministerial office, and
of the loud and increasing calls for constant labor in the churches and
among the pagans around us, we will, as soon and as fast as the wants of
our families will justify it, leave the service of tables, and give
ourselves wholly to the work of the ministry.”
The reasons for the third article. In the above agreement are, that some of
the colored preachers in Liberia had taken upon themselves the right of
administering the ordinances without having been regularly ordained for that
work. Unwilling at first to relinquish the exercise of this right, and Mr.
Cox refusing to acknowledge it, or to recognize them as regularly ordained
ministers, there was danger at the interest of unhappy collision among the
few who were desirous of worshipping God in the spirit, and of building up a
pure church in Liberia. This breach, however, was thus prevented, as all,
both preachers and people, set their names to the above articles of
agreement. On beholding this happy result of their proceedings, Mr. Cox
exclaimed, with pious gratitude, “The Lord has done it — the Lord has done
it — Satan is disappointed, and the church of God triumphs.”
Having thus arranged matters to the mutual satisfaction of all concerned,
Mr. Cox set himself to work in the most ardent manner for the enlargement of
the field of labor in different parts of the colony. On the 9th of March, he
held at Caldwell the first camp meeting ever attended on the continent of
Africa; called the brethren together for mutual consultation and prayer;
appointed days of fasting and thanksgiving, and planned several missions in
other places contiguous to Monrovia and finally on the 6th of April he
opened a sabbath school, consisting of seventy children.
These active labors, however, were destined soon to be interrupted, for on
the 12th of April he was seized with the African fever, which raged to such
a degree that he was soon so prostrated, that for twelve days he was
confined to his bed. And, although he so far recovered from this severe
attack as to be able to walk around his room, and to record in his journal
his uninterrupted peace with God, and his firm hope of eternal life, yet he
soon suffered a relapse, which, from the violence of its character, cut off
all hopes of recovery. He lingered in great pain and weakness, sometimes
reviving, and then again sinking, until the 21st of July, 1833, when he sunk
into the arms of death, in the full hope of immortality, aged thirty-three
years.
This sketch of his proceedings fully shows the predominant disposition of
his mind, and evinces the most ardent spirit of devotion to the best of all
causes. From the moment he had consecrated himself to this mission, his
whole soul seemed to be absorbed in the contemplation of Africa, and he bent
all his energies to make his mission prosperous. Aided as he was by the
managers if the Missionary Society, and cheered on by the prayers and
benedictions of the Church, he threw himself into the arms of divine
Providence, determining to hazard all upon the altar of his God, whether for
life or death, if he could only be the honored instrument of planting the
gospel in the soil of Africa. At a missionary meeting held in the city of
New York, on the eve of his departure, he remarked, in substance, that
having embarked in this enterprise, the thought of treading upon the shores
of Africa, even though it might be at the sacrifice of his life, was the
most sweet and delightful of any thing else he could possibly contemplate.
In this self-sacrificing spirit, he went — he fought — he sickened — he
died. And in his death, so peaceful and triumphant, he reared a monument in
Monrovia which has apprised all future travelers to that sacred spot, that
the founder of the Methodist missions in Western Africa “counted all things
but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ,” and for the
rewards of a life devoted to so holy and glorious a cause.
In Melville B. Cox were united a firmness of purpose, with a meekness of
disposition and amiability of manners. which at once endeared him to his
friends, and commanded the respect and confidence of all who knew him. Nor
were his talents small. “The Sketches of Western Africa,” which he wrote,
show the pen of a ready writer, and a mind accustomed to close and accurate
observation. These, united with genuine, deep piety, and a disposition
naturally amiable, and rendered much more mild and meek by the refining
influence of divine grace, qualified him to be eminently useful in that
department of labor which he had chosen for himself, and which was evidently
designated to him by the Head of the church.
While therefore his mortal remains repose upon the soil of Africa, his
friends may comfort themselves with the reflection that his soul, purified
by the fire of the Holy Spirit, is now reaping the ample reward of his
labors and sacrifices in the paradise of God. And though he fell an early
sacrifice to the cause of missions, his bones have but fattened the soil in
which they were entombed, and animated many a weary missionary to diligence
and perseverance in his work of faith and labor of love.
Through the influence of the Rev. Mr. Spaulding, who succeeded brother Cox
as a missionary to Africa, some generous individuals in Boston contributed a
sum for the purpose of erecting a monument over his grave. This was
transported to Monrovia, and there it stands, with the following inscription
engraven on three sides, in the words prepared by Mr. Spaulding: —
To the Memory of the Rev. MELVILLE B. COX, the first Missionary from the
Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States to Liberia, Western Africa.
He arrived in Monrovia on the 9th of March, 1833, where, having organized a
branch of the same Church, he died in the triumphs of the Christian faith on
the 21st of July of the same year, aged 33 years. He was a truly amiable
man, a devout Christian, and an able and successful minister of Jesus
Christ.
Another important mission was established this year at Green Bay, about five
hundred miles from the city of Detroit, in Brown county, in the state of
Michigan. This spacious bay is on the west side of Lake Michigan, and the
country was inhabited chiefly by Indians, though the United States had
established here a military post, and an Indian agency. To this place a
number of the converted Indians of the Oneida tribe had removed, and they
were very desirous of having the gospel preached to them and to the
neighboring tribes; the enterprise was also highly favored by the United
States government, particularly by then agent, Mr. Schoolcraft, who resided
there.
Good impressions had been already made upon the minds of some of the Indians
through the labors of John Sunday, who had been raised up from Heathenism to
a preacher of righteousness during the great revival of religion among the
aborigines of Upper Canada. He, and some of his brethren, had traveled into
the country bordering on Lake Huron, had visited Machinaw, and the
neighboring villages, and preached to their native brethren with great power
and success, and a considerable number of these degraded people had been
brought to the knowledge of the truth. The good work thus begun, had
attracted the attention of many of the Indians in that region of country,
and as they were accustomed to wander about from place to place in their
hunting excursions, those who embraced the gospel went from tribe to tribe,
and told their brethren “what great things the Lord had done for them,” and
they also believed unto eternal life. In this way the work of reformation
spread among the several tribes; and though the Indians in the territory
around Green Bay were separated some distance from the immediate scene of
John Sunday’s labors, yet, by the means already suggested, they had received
the impressions of truth, and were in some measure prepared to welcome the
missionary of the cross.
The Rev. John Clark, of the New York conference, was appointed a missionary
to this region of country. He was received with much affection and respect
by Mr. Schoolcraft, by the inhabitants generally, and more especially by
those converted natives who had removed from the Oneida mission in the
western part of the state of New York. he therefore entered upon his work
with a fair prospect of success, and laid his plans for establishing schools
by erecting houses, and employing teachers, as well as fixing regular
appointments for preaching. And though the mission has not resulted in the
conversion of many of the natives, it is to be hoped that a foundation has
been laid, which, by addressing gospel truth directly to the understanding
and heart, may be productive of their salvation.
Several other missions were commenced this year in the bounds of the
Illinois conference, in the new settlements which were filling up with great
rapidity. Among these were Rock Island, in Adams county, South Bend,
Chicago, Fort Clark, Macoopin, and Fort Wayne. A mission was also
established this year in the bounds of the Tennessee conference, in Madison
and Limestone counties, for the special benefit of the people of color. All
these new fields of labor were cultivated with success, however unpromising
they might have been in the beginning.
Somerset and Port Carbon, in the bounds of the Philadelphia conference,
embracing destitute settlements which could not be supplied in the ordinary
way, were blessed with missionary labor, and supported by the Philadelphia
C. M. Society. An effort was also made to establish preaching at West Point,
where the military school is located, in the state of New York, and which is
quite remote from any circuit, by means of missionary labor. It did not,
however, prove successful.
The work in general throughout the bound of the several annual conferences,
both on the older circuits and stations, and on the mission, was in a
prosperous state, and the spirit of revival, and of liberality in support of
our various institutions, was evidently rising and prevailing more and more.
For the last two years, through the instrumentality of protracted meetings,
there had been a powerful revival in the city of New York. This work
commenced in the Allen Street church, and spread more or less in the
different congregations in the city; but its most powerful effects were felt
and seen in the church in Allen Street, where the meetings were continued
for upward of forty days, and in the evenings for nearly three months; so
that the “revival in Allen Street” became notorious all over the country,
and the increase during the two past years was not less than one thousand
four hundred. This extension of the work created the necessity of having an
additional number of churches, which eventuated, in the course of a few
years, in the erection of seven, making in the whole twelve, in two of which
the slips were rented, and three of the old ones were rebuilt.
Our preachers and people more generally began to feel the necessity of
building larger and more commodious houses of worship, and of providing
parsonages for the married preachers, as well as of contributing more
liberally for the support of our infant colleges, missions, and Sunday
schools. Indeed, such had been the hallowed an happy influence of these
institutions thus far, that opposition to them was mainly disarmed of its
power, and success spoke loudly in their behalf.
Thirteen preachers had died during the last year, one hundred and
forty-three were returned superannuated, and seventy-eight supernumerary;
sixty-three had located, two had withdrawn, and three been expelled.
Among those whose death are recorded, are two among the oldest preachers in
the traveling ministry, namely, Lemuel Green, of the Philadelphia, and
William Phoebus, of the New York conference.
The former, Lemuel Green, was born in Maryland, about fourteen miles from
the city of Baltimore, in the year 1751. When about twenty-five years of
age, in the year 1776, while war was raging in our country, he was made a
partaker of justification by faith in Jesus Christ, and immediately attached
himself to a Methodist society. At that time the Methodists were but few,
numbering only four thousand nine hundred and twenty-one, and there were but
twenty-four preachers. At what time he commenced preaching we have no means
of ascertaining; but in 1783 we find his name on the Minutes of conference,
and he was stationed on the Yadkin circuit, and in 1785 we find him in the
Allegheny circuit, at that time a new region of country, but rapidly filling
up with inhabitants. he was, therefore, among the pioneers of Methodism in
that new country, and he continued his labors in various places, sometimes
filling the office of presiding elder, until 1800, when he located, and
settled in the city of Philadelphia, and entered into mercantile business,
by which means he acquired considerable wealth. While in this relation he
continued to preach occasionally, generally every Sabbath, and by his
example to aid the cause of religion. His heart and house were ever open to
receive his brethren, and he always made them welcome to his hospitable
table.
In 1823 he was readmitted into the Philadelphia conference in the relation
of a supernumerary, in which he continued until his death, which was
peaceful and triumphant. His preaching is said to have been characterized by
clearness and soundness, and attended with the energies of the holy Spirit.
Had he continued exclusively devoted to the work of the ministry, instead of
departing from it “to serve tables,” he doubtless would have shone much
brighter, and diffused his light much more extensively among his fellow-men.
But having become the head of a family, and hence feeling the pressure so
common to itinerant ministers in those days, arising from the scanty support
afforded them, he thought it his duty to exchange a traveling for a located
ministry; and though he acquired a competency for a season, yet, by adverse
circumstances, he was, a few years before his death, reduced to poverty, so
that his declining days were overcast with temporal affliction. But whether
in prosperity or adversity, he maintained his integrity, and bowed
submissively to the will of his heavenly Father, exemplifying the virtues of
humility and patience in an eminent degree.
This short record is made as a memento of that Christian friendship and
fellowship which the writer enjoyed with his deceased brother, and in the
hope of sharing with him in the blessedness of immortality and eternal life.
William Phoebus was also a native of Maryland, and was born in Somerset
county, in the month of August, 1754. Though the exact time and means of his
conversion are unknown to us, yet it appears from the record that he was
brought to the knowledge of the truth in the early days of Methodism, became
a member of its society and in 1783 he was admitted on trial in the
traveling ministry. His first appointment was on Frederick circuit and in
1784 he attended the Christmas conference, when the Church was organized
under the superintendence of Coke and Asbury, and the direction of Wesley.
After this he traveled in various places, sometimes contending with the
hardships and difficulties of the new settlements in Green Briar, and other
places no less rugged and destitute, where he accredited himself as a “good
soldier of Jesus Christ,” fighting the battles of the Lord, and conquering
souls by the power of gospel truth. In this good work he continued until the
year 1798, when he located, and entered upon the practice of physic, in the
city of New York, preaching, in the mean time, generally every sabbath, in
the pulpits, with good effect.
He continued in this local sphere of action until 1806, when he was
readmitted into the New York conference, and was stationed in the city of
Albany. Thence he was removed in 1808 to Charleston South Carolina, and in
1811 was returned to the city of New York. From that time he continued to
fill various stations until the year 1821, when he was returned a
supernumerary, and in 1824 a superannuated preacher, in which relation he
continued until his death, which occurred at his residence, in the city of
New York, November 9, 1831.
Though a man of great integrity of character, and strongly attached to the
Church of his choice, and a lover of the itinerancy, he pleaded the
necessity of the circumstances in which he was placed for his partial
locations. Having entered into the marriage state about the year 1791, while
traveling on Long Island, he soon found, as he thought, such difficulties
besetting his path as an itinerant minister, as to justify him in
restricting the sphere of his ministerial labors, that he might more
effectually provide for himself and his own household.” These difficulties
arose out of a want of adequate means of support, the lack of parsonages to
accommodate his family, and the being dissatisfied, whether with or without
reason, as he frequently affirmed with the office of presiding elder. Though
it is believed that most of those who took this step did it unadvisedly, yet
it is manifest that they had many arguments in its justification, arising
out of the causes already enumerated; and the Church by this neglect toward
her servants, incurred a fearful responsibility from which, however, she has
been for some time endeavoring to relieve herself by a more liberal course
in this respect.
Dr. Phoebus, for so he was called from his having been in the practice of
physic, had acquired a large stock of useful information from his various
studies and general intercourse with mankind. He lacked, however, that
systematic arrangement of knowledge, which characterizes a mind that has
been more early imbued with classical studies, and was therefore
distinguished by certain eccentricities in his public administrations,
conveying instruction more by detached sentences than by a chain of
consecutive reasoning, or discoursing in a regular didactic manner. His
style, however, was plain and perspicuous, his manner solemn and impressive,
and he evinced on all occasions a mind familiar with the holy Scriptures,
and deeply devoted to his work. He delighted much in the study of old
authors, in examining the primitive records of the church, in analyzing the
different modern systems of church order and government, and comparing them
one with another, and with the primitive model. Having formed some
acquaintance with the original languages in which the Scriptures of truth
were written, he was extremely fond of deciphering the radical import of the
sacred text, and thence sifting out the exact scope and design of the
writer.
His veneration for antiquity led him, we think, into the error of
undervaluing the discoveries of modern days and of treating with too much
neglect the improvements in the various departments of science and of
theological knowledge. Hence a criticism by Clarke, or Benson, or even
Wesley, whom he venerated as the greatest of modern divines, was not treated
by Dr. Phoebus with half the deference as if it were made by some of the
older divines, such as Poole, Henry, or Gill and the reasoning of a Reid or
a Stewart would be rejected if contradicted by Locke. He never could pardon
Dr. Adam Clarke for his ingenious speculations on the character of the
serpent, or for his rejection of the eternal Sonship of Jesus Christ and the
antipathy he imbibed against this learned, pious, and useful commentator,
seemed to unfit him for a due appreciation of his merits in other respects,
as one of the most profound expositors of God’s sacred word. He, indeed,
claimed the liberty of thinking for himself on all subjects, and perhaps in
the exercise of this noble independence of mind, the birthright of every
intelligent being, he sometimes manifested too little deference to others
for his own benefit. Hence an air of dogmatism obtruded itself in the social
circle which wounded the feelings of others, without exalting, in their
estimation, the value of his own aphorisms and opinions.
He was a great admirer of Baxter. From his voluminous and pious writings he
had treasured up many sayings, with which he endeavored to fortify his own
positions, whenever assailed by an opponent; while Wesley and Fletcher
furnished him with argument, in time of need, to defend experimental,
practical, and polemical divinity. Being thus furnished with knowledge from
various sources, and having a fund of anecdote at command, which he had
treasured up from various reading and extensive intercourse with mankind,
his conversation was always instructive and lively, and his judgment on
topics of importance was listened to with becoming deference, by his friends
in the ministry, as well as by others who sought his instructions. And those
who were intimate with him were generally careful how they provoked a
controversy on those subjects with which he was familiar, lest they might be
reduced to a mortifying defeat in entering the lists with one who well
understood how to foil an adversary, or who could not easily brook a
contradiction.
He held in suitable contempt those artificial decorations with which some
young men were wont to adorn themselves, and all those tricks of oratory by
which they attempted to gain a momentary and popular applause. Being asked
by a friend “how it was that some preachers who seemed to have not much
weight of character, and but a slender title to the merits ascribed to them
by their fond admirers, gained so much attention,” he replied with an air of
contempt not easily forgotten or imitated, “Pugh! If I were to pull off my
old boot, and throw it up into the air, and cry, hurrah hurrah! I should
soon collect around me a more numerous crowd than any man in the city.”
He had a deep insight into the human character, and hence was not easily
imposed upon by the artful and designing. This enabled him to manage
difficulties which occurred between brethren in the Church to great
advantage, and to bring them to an amicable adjustment. In regard to all
such things he was “the wise man who keepeth the matter till afterward,”
never uttering his opinions to the disparagement of either party before the
subject of dispute had been fully investigated.
It cannot be said that he was a popular preacher, in the common acceptation
of that term, though he certainly commanded the respectful attention of the
more weighty part of the community. A reason for his want of general
popularity may be found rather in the dry and monotonous manner of his
preaching than in the want of the depth and solidity of his matter. He often
dealt, both in his private conversation and public addresses, in pointed
apothegms [a terse saying or maxim] and short enigmas, not easily
comprehended by the mass and often perplexing even those who were among the
more thoughtful and deeply read.
As an instance of his enigmatical manner of speaking, the following may be
mentioned: — At the conference of 1823, when addressing his brethren on the
improbability of his being able to serve the Church much longer, he
remarked, that the lease of his house had expired, and therefore he could
not tell how soon he might be called to remove, as he was not certain that
he could procure a renewal of his lease for any particular length of time;
hence he could not pledge himself for any special service in the
ministry.”
On hearing this, an aged minister, and one by no means deficient in mental
sagacity, said to the writer of this, I thought the doctor owned the house
in which he lives but it seems he was under a mistake, as he says that the
time of his lease is run out.” To this it was replied, “You do not
understand him. He speaks in parables. He is now threescore years and ten,
the common age God has allotted to man, and, therefore, cannot calculate on
living much longer at most, and even that little time must be considered as
an act of God’s grace, over and above what he usually grants to men.” This,
indeed, was his meaning from his own subsequent explanation.
These remarks apply to him more appropriately at an advanced stage of his
ministry than in his younger days, as it is asserted by those who heard him
at that period that he was ardent, vigorous and often very fluent in his
addresses to the multitude, deep and searching in his appeals to the
conscience. He was certainly successful in those days in enlarging the
kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He always manifested the deepest reverence whenever the name of the Supreme
Being was introduced in conversation. At all times, when he had occasion to
mention the name of the Saviour of the world, he would do it by a gentle
inclination of the head, and if covered, by lifting the hat, and coupling
with it the qualifying term, adorable thus, “the adorable” Saviour, or, “The
adorable” Jesus — thereby acknowledging the divinity of his character, and
his profound reverence for his supreme Godhead. Indeed, all his discourses
were richly interlarded with the names, the offices, the atoning merits, and
the interceding work of Jesus Christ making him, as he justly ought, the
alpha and omega of all his sermons, and as the only foundation of man’s
hope, and medium of access and reconciliation to God. He thus very properly
considered the “adorable” Jesus as “the light of the world,” the divine
“Sun” whose effulgence reflected light upon the types and shadows, the
sacrifices and prophecies of the Old dispensation, and whose rays penetrated
the gloom of moral darkness, and opened up to the sinner the only sure path
to immortality and eternal life.
Though this certainly was not a peculiarity of Dr. Phoebus, as every true
minister of the gospel must make “Jesus Christ and him crucified,” the
beginning and ending of his discourses, and the only medium of
reconciliation to God, yet in the doctor it seemed ever to be his peculiar
delight and his studied aim to hold up Christ most prominently before his
hearers, in all the glories of his character, and in all the endearing
relations he held to God and man as the REDEEMER OF THE WORLD.
The position which he occupied sometimes exposed him to the shafts of
enemies. His apparent eccentricities provoked the ridicule of some, while
his good sense, varied knowledge, and equanimity of temper, enabled him to
repel their assaults with good effect, and to bear the sneering scoffs of
fools with exemplary patience. And though on some occasions he may have
returned the repartee with an air of severity calculated to provoke the
feeling of hostility, yet he knew well how to disarm an adversary by the
gentler rebukes of love, and the blandishments of fraternal regards. In all
these respects the fear and love of God were eminently exemplified, and the
dignity of the Christian minister generally maintained.
Dr. Phoebus lived to a good old age. After having served the Church as a
minister for about forty-eight years, eight of which as a located preacher,
he fell asleep in Jesus, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, in the midst
of his friends, and in the full hope of eternal life. He retained his mental
faculties to the last, and on his dying bed discoursed in an edifying manner
upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and the prospect he had, through him, of
everlasting life. Patience in suffering, and submission to the divine will,
were remarkably exemplified in the midst of his bodily pains, while he
gradually and peacefully sunk into the arms of death. A short time before he
died, he quoted the words of St. James, “Let patience have its perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing,” and commented upon them
with much apparent pleasure, and with great clearness of apprehension,
exhibiting, at the same time, a lively exposition of the meaning of those
expressive words in his struggles with his last enemy.
Having thus filled up the measure of his days, “as a ripe shock of corn,” he
was gathered into the garner of God, to enjoy the rewards of his labors and
sufferings in the world above.
After recording the death of those two aged veterans of the cross of Christ,
we may be allowed to add that of a young minister of the sanctuary, who,
though less distinguished for his long services in the church militant, was
still more eminently characterized by the brilliancy of his talents, and his
attainments in literature and science, and equally so in the depth of his
piety. I allude to Nathaniel Porter, a member of the Philadelphia
conference.
He was a native of Worcester, Mass., and was born in the year 1800. When
about nineteen years of age he was made a partaker of justification by faith
in Jesus Christ, and became a member of our Church. The Wesleyan Seminary
had just been established in the city of New York, and as one object of it
was to give an education to pious young men whom we had reason to believe
God had called to preach, brother Porter, soon after his conversion, entered
as a student in this seminary, where he made rapid advancement in the
knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages, and in mathematics, giving
evidence, in the mean time, of his deep piety, and exercising his gifts
occasionally in the pulpit, after having received license as a local
preacher. In the spring of 1823 he was received on trial in the New York
conference, and he soon gave satisfactory evidence of his call to the work
of the ministry, and of his qualification for the faithful and successful
discharge of its duties.
But as our brethren of the Genesee conference had resolved upon establishing
an academy at Cazenovia, at the urgent request of the trustees of that
infant institution, brother Porter was transferred to that conference, and
appointed principal of the Cazenovia Academy. He entered upon his duties
with great ardor and diligence, and succeeded to the satisfaction of all
concerned, rising very high in the estimation of the people as an
accomplished teacher, as an able minister of the New Testament, and as a
deeply pious man. Such, however, was the character of the duties he had to
perform, and the assiduous manner in which he applied himself to his
vocation, that at the end of two years he found his health declining, and
was obliged, with much reluctance to himself and the friends of the academy,
to resign his office, and seek to reinvigorate his constitution by a
cessation from labor, and a residence in a milder climate. He accordingly
spent some time in the city of Baltimore, where he measurably regained his
health, so that in 1828 he was transferred to the New York conference, and
was stationed in Poultney, in the state of Vermont. There his labors were
highly appreciated and greatly blessed. This cold climate, however, not
agreeing with his feeble constitution, he was, in 1829, removed to the
Philadelphia conference, and stationed in Morristown, New Jersey. In this
place there had been a remarkable revival of religion for the past year, and
brother Porter entered upon his labors with all that ardor of soul for which
he was eminently distinguished, and with an ability which the times
peculiarly called for in the defense of Methodist doctrine and usages. Here
he felt himself compelled, by the force of circumstances, to buckle on the
armor of a polemic, for the peculiarities of Methodism were assailed with
much ingenuity and force of argument by the Presbyterian minister of the
place, the Rev. Mr. Barnes, who had espoused the New School divinity, and
arrayed himself in this new armor with a view, apparently, to put down the
Methodism which had made, and which was still making, such powerful inroads
into his parish.
With a view to sustain himself in this spiritual warfare, and to defend the
doctrines, discipline, and usages which he believed to be Scripture, brother
Porter wrote and published a pamphlet, in which he showed himself to be “a
workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth.” Through the influence of his labors, this revival, which had
commenced under Methodist preaching, the Rev. Mr. Atwood being stationed
there at the time, was kept up, and the cause amply defended against its
assailants, and he had the happiness of rejoicing over the conversion of
souls, and the building up of believers “in their most holy faith.”
The next year he was stationed in Newark, New Jersey, where he closed his
labors and life in the peaceful triumph of faith, and the firm hope of an
eternal inheritance. His death indeed had long been anticipated by his
friend, as he had been gradually wasting away with lingering consumption,
whose insidious attacks, though fatal in the estimation of all who saw him,
flattered him with the deceptive hope of regaining his health. But when at
length he was compelled to resign his hope as delusive, he calmly submitted
to the mandate of his rightful Sovereign, and looked forward with a
believing eye to the issue of his struggles, as an entrance, through the
mercy of God in Christ Jesus, into the everlasting kingdom of God.
Thus lived and thus died, Nathaniel Porter, a young minister of eminent
endowments, whose piety and talents gave promising indications, had he lived
to a mature age, of future usefulness to the Church of his choice. But,
Nipt by the wind’s untimely blast, Parch’d by the sun’s directer ray, The
momentary glories waste, The short-lived beauties die away.”
So, indeed, died away the beauties, and faded the glories of our beloved
brother ere he had attained that maturity of experience and usefulness in
knowledge which might have exhibited him as a “master workman” in the
“building of God.” And in his death we are called upon to adore in solemn
submission, the inscrutable ways of divine knowledge, in thus taking from
his Church one of its most promising sons in his youthful days and in the
midst of his usefulness, with high hopes of future eminence. But the wisdom
of God shines not less conspicuously in its actings when the hopes of men
are disappointed than it does in unfolding plans in conformity to their
pious wishes and holy aspirations. Nor does the grace of God appear less
powerful and energetic in ripening the early fruits of its creation, than in
sustaining others for a series of years amid the toils, the sufferings, and
useful pursuits of life.
Brother Porter was certainly a young man of more than ordinary talents and
attainments. Though his early education was not thorough, yet his
attainments in literature and general knowledge were rapid and constantly
improving, and the more meritorious because they were chiefly the fruits of
his own industry, after he was brought to the knowledge of the truth as it
is in Jesus. Feeling it to be his duty to devote himself to the work of the
ministry, and trembling under an apprehension that he might enter upon this
work without due preparation, he applied himself with all his might to the
acquirement of useful knowledge, that he might be able to read, compare, and
judge for himself in the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And the
short time he remained a student in the Wesleyan Seminary, under the tuition
of the Rev. John M. Smith, by an assiduous attention to his studies, he laid
the foundation for his future usefulness, as a sound scholar, and as an able
minister of the New Testament. The manner, also, with which he afterward
pursued his studies, in the midst of the active duties of his stations, as
principal of the Cazenovia Academy, and then as an itinerant minister,
evinced the unquenchable thirst of his soul for the acquisition of
knowledge, and the practicability of attaining it even while discharging
other indispensable duties.
With a mind thus stored with various sorts of knowledge, and a heart deeply
imbued with the Spirit of Christ, brother Porter went forth into the
vineyard of his Lord, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. Nor was he
less distinguished for his meekness and humility than for his learning and
science. This was manifest from the deference he had to his seniors in the
ministry, from the trembling manner in which he arose to express his
opinions and from the diffidence he manifested in the decision of his own
mind yet he exemplified the perfect compatibility of uniting, in the same
mind and heart, meekness and firmness, diffidence and decision; for no man
was more determined in his purpose, or more persevering in his work, when
convinced of truth and duty, than was Nathaniel Porter; nothing, indeed,
could turn him aside from a straight forward course in the pursuit of good,
when convinced of the right way and means to attain it. These commendable
virtues shone out in his life, and exhibited him as a worthy by example for
the imitation of those who may come after him.
In conducting the controversy which his situation called him to manage, he
exhibited at once great clearness of perception, acuteness of intellect, and
comprehensiveness of argument, united with an ardent love of the truth, and
a firmness of purpose in its defense. But in all his actions, whether in the
pulpit, the use of his pen, or in his more private intercourse in society,
the love of God and man appeared to be the predominant principle of his
heart, and he breathed it out in accents of charity toward his fellow-men.
If at any time there appeared a tartness in his expression, it was because
he thought the honor of truth was insulted in a manner which fully justified
the severity to which he reluctantly yielded. And though he exhibited
evidences that he belonged to human beings, of whom it must be often said,
“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” yet he has left behind him
no less convincing proofs of his unreserved devotion to the best of all
causes, and of his preparedness to “enter into the joy of his Lord.”
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 472,364; Last Year: 437,024;
Increase: 35,340 — Colored This Year: 73,817; Last Year: 71,589; Increase:
2,228 — Indians This Year: 2,412; Last Year: 4,501; Decrease: 2,089 [4] —
Total This Year: 548,593; Last Year: 513,114 — Increase: 35,479 — Preachers
This Year: 2,200; Last Year: 2,010; Increase: 190.
1833
The work of God this year was generally very prosperous. The agitations
which resulted from the radical controversy had generally ceased, both
institutions had been successfully defended against their rude assailants,
and hence all went forward with alacrity and delight in the discharge of
their respective duties. In addition to the ordinary means used for the
promotion of the cause of Christ, the “protracted meetings” contributed
much, for they were now very generally adopted throughout our bounds; and
the circuits and stations, particularly in the older parts of our work, were
brought into more compact order, so that pastoral duties could be more
conveniently performed. But that which contributed still more to enlarge our
borders, more especially in places before unoccupied by our ministry, and in
the frontier settlements, was the energetic action of the Missionary
Society.
A new mission was opened this year in the bounds of the Pittsburgh
conference, called Braddock’s Field, in consequence of its embracing a tract
of country comprehending the place where Braddock suffered such a disastrous
defeat from his own headstrong and imprudent valor, and the impetuous onset
of his savage foes. A warfare of a different character was now commenced
upon the people by the missionary of the cross, and so successfully was it
prosecuted, that in 1834 not less than one hundred and fifty were returned
as belonging to the Church, and the next year it was numbered with the
regular circuits, supporting itself and contributing its quota for the
support of others still more destitute.
Within the bounds of the Mississippi conference several new places were
occupied as missionary ground, and they were generally cultivated with
encouraging success. The La Fourche mission, in the neighborhood of New
Orleans, was undertaken chiefly for the benefit of the slave population,
though the whites shared in the labors of the missionary. In 1834 there were
returned on this circuit sixty-two members, eleven whites, and fifty-one
colored.
There was an extensive tract of country, thinly populated, among the bayous
and swamps bordering upon the banks of the Mississippi river, for whose
spiritual benefit a mission was this year established. Into this unhealthy
climate, the missionary, desirous only to save as many souls as possible,
entered in the name of the Lord, and succeeded in calling the attention of
the people to the things of eternity, and in forming several flourishing
classes.
In the bounds of the Alabama conference the Taladega mission was commenced
under favorable auspices, there being one hundred and fourteen members
returned the first year, and the next two hundred and eighty-six. Noxabe,
including a destitute population in the frontiers of Tuscaloosa district,
was also brought under spiritual culture this year, with some degree of
success.
In the state of Maine the Mattanawcook and Houlton mission, embracing a new
and destitute population, was successfully established there being returned
not less than seventy souls in Church membership in 1834.
The constant and rapid emigration to the west, as well as to the southwest
rendered it indispensable, that the people might be supplied with the
ordinances of religion, to enlarge the boundaries of our work in proportion
to the increasing extent of our settlements. And the chief points of
attraction in the west at this time were the states of Illinois and
Michigan. Hence to supply them with the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Peoria,
Fort Edwards, Henderson, and Blue river missions were established this year
and by an inspection of the Minutes for the subsequent years, it will be
found that all these places have yielded a rich harvest of souls as the
reward of our labors; that they have not only supported their own
institutions, but have contributed to send the gospel still further into the
more remote settlements of the far west.
The Upper Wabash, Kalamazoo, and La Porte missions, included within the
bounds of the Indiana conference, and embracing the frontier settlements in
the state of Indiana, had been, as before mentioned, also recently
established, and the labor of those men of God to whom the oversight was
committed were accompanied by the Spirit of God, as was manifested in the
awakening and conversion of sinners. These, like the others before
mentioned, have prospered abundantly, and are ministering to their own and
the wants of others, regular circuits having been established, and churches
erected to the honor and for the worship of Almighty God.
The encouraging success which had attended the labors of our preachers among
the slave and free black population of the south, stimulated our brethren in
the southwest to imitate their example by opening missions for the special
benefit of this class of people. Hence, at the last session of the Tennessee
conference, the African mission, embracing the colored population of
Nashville and its vicinity, was commenced; a regular four weeks’ circuit was
formed, and the good work was prosecuted with such success, that in 1834
there were reported eight hundred and nineteen Church members.
It should be remarked that these domestic missions, as they have been
called, to distinguish them from the aboriginal and foreign missions, differ
in nothing from the ordinary new circuits, only in their receiving a
support, whether in part or in whole, from the funds of the Missionary
Society; for as soon as they become able to support themselves, they are
struck from the list of missions, and supplied in the usual way. By this
wise policy, we have been enabled continually and gradually to enlarge both
our regular work and the number of missionary stations, with comparatively a
small amount of money, considering the extent of our field of labor. And
that this had a happy effect upon the missionary cause and religion
generally, is manifest from the fact that this year the funds of the society
had increased about seven thousand dollars over what they were last year,
and that they have gone on increasing from that day to this.
This year two other colleges were founded under the patronage of our Church,
the one in Carlisle, and the other in Meadville, in the state of
Pennsylvania. For want of patronage they had both gone down in the hands of
those who had established them at first, and were conveyed gratuitously to
our Church, on condition that an attempt should be made to resuscitate them
and give them a permanent existence.
The first, located in the town of Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa., called
Dickinson College, was founded by the Presbyterians, and was incorporated by
the state in 1783. Its location is pleasant and healthy, and its property,
at the time of its transfer to the present board of trustees, including the
lot, buildings and apparatus, was estimated to be worth about $40,000. The
Baltimore and Philadelphia conferences took it under their patronage,
appointed agents to collect funds for its endowment, and called the Rev. J
P. Durbin, then editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal, to its
presidency. Having procured about $45,000 in donations and subscriptions,
the college was opened for students in the summer of 1834 under favorable
circumstances. It has thus far continued to answer the expectations of its
founders and patrons, not only by imparting sound learning to its pupils,
but also in blessing its youth with the principles, experience, and practice
of Christianity. It has a law and preparatory school attached to it, and is
daily acquiring more and more the confidence of the public. It has a charter
from the state, and an annuity of $1,000.
The Allegheny College is located in Meadville, Crawford county, a very
thriving village on French Creek, three hundred and thirty-four miles
northwest of Philadelphia. This institution received its first charter from
the state in 1815, but for want of adequate support, it was suffered to
languish and die in the hands of its former patrons and supporters. With a
view to its resuscitation, the entire premises were given to the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and the Pittsburgh and Erie conferences took it under
their patronage. The Rev. Dr. Ruter, who had retired from the presidency of
Augusta College in Kentucky, was appointed the first president of this
institution, and it went into operation this year under his direction, with
promising hopes of success. It has continued, though sometimes embarrassed
for want of more ample funds, to bless the youth intrusted to its care with
its wholesome instructions, and many of them have dated their conversion to
God in this seat of learning and religion. It is said that i ts library is
by far the largest and best of any in the western country, and its buildings
were ample and in excellent order. Though Dr. Ruter retired from its
presidency in 1836, it has gone on prosperously under his successor, the
Rev. H. J. Clark.
Another academy had been established at Lima, Livingston county, N. Y.,
under the patronge of the Genesee conference, and Dr. Samuel Luckey was
appointed the principal, and professor of moral science. It has prospered
abundantly from that day to this, and exerted a most salutary influence upon
the youth intrusted to its care, and upon the Methodists of the Church
generally, in that region of the country.
Sixteen preachers had died in peace during the past year; seventy-two were
located, eighty-nine returned supernumerary, one hundred and sixty-eight
superarannuated, four expelled, and two had withdrawn.
Much might be said in favor of all those whose deaths are recorded, as men
of God, who had devoted themselves to his service, and ended their labors
and days in the full assurance of hope. But as there was nothing special to
distinguish them from others of a similar grade and character, it is thought
not expedient to fill these pages with a mere repetition of what may be said
of every good and evangelical minister. Of one, however, I feel it a duty to
make honorable mention, because he was a young man possessed of some
peculiar excellences and traits of character, worthy of remembering and
imitating.
John M. Smith was the son of an old member of the Church in the city of New
York, long distinguished as one of the most devoted and active trustees,
class leaders, and sabbath school superintendents, as well as an
indefatigable laborer at our camp meetings. Those who live in the city of
New York, or its vicinity, will readily recognize, in this allusion to the
father of John M. Smith, Joseph Smith, recently gone to his rest in heaven,
whose active labors for the good of the Church will long be remembered by
his surviving brethren with gratitude and fraternal affection.
His son John was born in the town of Brooklyn, N.Y., October 10, 1795, and
in his fifteenth year was brought to the knowledge of the truth as it is in
Jesus, while a student in Columbia College. Notwithstanding he was
surrounded with all the gayeties of the city, and the daily temptations to
vain amusements by his connection with thoughtless young men in the college,
he maintained the purity of his Christian character through his college
course, and graduated with honor to himself, and to the satisfaction of his
friends. On leaving college he entered upon the study of physic, intending
to devote himself to the practice of the healing art. Being, however, soon
impressed that it was his duty to call sinners to repentance, he
relinquished that design, and entered upon the duties of a traveling
preacher in 1817, and was stationed on Jamaica circuit, on Long Island, as a
helper to Dr. William Phoebus, an old and intimate friend of his father. He
continued in the work of an itinerant preacher, in which he gave evidence of
deep piety, chastened zeal, and useful talents, until in the month of
September, 1820, he was elected by the New York conference principal of the
Wesleyan Seminary, in the city of New York, in which he continued until that
institution was removed to White Plains, of which he also took the
oversight. From this he was transferred, in May, 1832, to the Wesleyan
University, as professor of languages. He entered upon the duties of his
professorship with great ardor of mind, and promising hopes of distinguished
usefulness; but alas! his days were soon cut off, for he died on the 27th
day of the following December, aged thirty-seven years, two months, and
seventeen days.
Mr. Smith was a diligent and successful student. In addition to the
prescribed course of studies in the college, and this was by no means
superficial, and the progress be made in the science of medicine, he
acquired the knowledge of the Hebrew, French, and Spanish languages, was a
proficient in botany, and other useful branches of polite literature. He
appeared, indeed, to possess a peculiar aptitude of mind to acquire the
knowledge of languages, both ancient and modern, of the dead and the living,
for he studied them thoroughly, and could read and translate them with ease
and accuracy.
As a preacher he was sound and systematical, arranging all his discourses
with great accuracy and in regular order, this being characteristic of his
mind. Habituated from his youth to pursuing all his studies in consecutive
order, nothing was done slovenly or negligently, but every thing had its
appropriate place, and was made to suit the place it was designed to occupy.
When you heard him preach, you could hardly avoid the impression, that his
sermons partook of the character of scientific arrangement, and were the
result of much thought and previous preparation, and they were delivered in
language plain, elegant, and energetic, without any superfluous ornament, or
the artificial graces of oratory. In this respect he seems to have taken
Wesley for a model, an exemplar worthy the imitation of all who wish simply
to do good to their fellow-men, by preaching the gospel of the Son of God.
Instead, therefore, of aping the foppery of those who seek to gain a
temporary applause by the sparklings of wit, or the mere flights of oratory,
he seemed to “study to show himself approved of God,” and to penetrate the
heart by the plain truths of the gospel, expressed in language which the
learned could not condemn, and which the illiterate common-sense hearer
might understand, feel, and appreciate. For style and manner, therefore,
brother Smith may be held up as an example for those who aim, as all should,
to be useful, instead of affecting to be great.
His mind was enlightened with various sorts of knowledge, and his heart
“seasoned with grace;” meek, modest, and diffident, he appeared in the
circle of his friends to “take the lowest seat,” at the same time that
others considered him as “worthy of double honor.” Here the grace of
humility shone out in all his word and actions, and set off the other
qualities of his mind to the greatest advantage.
But with all these qualifications, he was not considered a great preacher.
Many who were far inferior to him in learning and science, who understood no
other language than their mother tongue, and who went out into the field of
itinerancy from the common avocation of life, far outshone him as preachers
of the gospel, and much exceeded him in winning souls to Christ. Though
greatly beloved by all who knew him, for the urbanity of his manners, the
meekness of his mind, the gentleness of his deportment, and highly esteemed
by those who were acquainted with his attainments, with his worth of
character as a man of learning and sound judgment, yet there were those, as
before said, who could claim none of these literary advantages nor
scientific attainments, who rose higher than he in popular favor, and were
more eminently distinguished as able ministers of the New Testament.
May not this be accounted for from the diversity of his studies and duties?
While the others we have alluded to were men of one work, and hence gave
their individual attention to their high and holy calling, Mr. Smith’s mind
was occupied with a great variety of subjects, more especially after he
commenced the duties of a teacher, and could not therefore give himself
“wholly to these things.” Hence, while some shine out brilliantly on one
subject, or rise high above their fellows in the exhibition of some peculiar
excellence, we behold the graces clustering around him in the sweetest
harmony, balancing one another, and each lending to the other the benefit of
its strength and beauty. Instead, therefore, of overwhelming you suddenly
with the effulgence of light on a favorite topic, he gently enlightened your
mind with the radiations of truth, which fell upon your understanding and
heart like the orient beams from the morning sun, and softly insinuated
themselves into your affections, drawing them almost imperceptibly toward
Jesus Christ, as the source and center of all blessedness. These things gave
a polish and a finish to his character, uniting those graces which eminently
fitted him to act with becoming dignity and usefulness in the various walks
of life in which he was called to move and to exercise his gifts.
He has left, therefore, a sweet odor behind him, which it is hoped will
invite others to follow his track, and profit by the brightness of his
example.
By one of those providences which it is more easy to acknowledge and adore
than it is to comprehend, his father was much reduced in the decline of life
in his worldly circumstances, and the son was called to share in the
father’s misfortunes. This compelled him to observe that rigid economy which
induced some to suspect him of an unjustifiable penuriousness in his
temporal matters, not duly considering that economy, in such a case, may
become as much a duty as it is to be liberal in our gifts under more
favorable circumstances. This affliction, however, he bore with Christian
fortitude and submission and while it became a means of lessening his
pecuniary resources, it no doubt tended to wean his affections from
terrestrial, and to fix them more permanently on celestial objects.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 519,196; Last Year: 472,364;
Increase: 46,832 — Colored This Year: 78,293; Last Year: 73,817; Increase:
4,476 — Indians This Year: 2,247; Last Year: 2,412; Decrease: 165 — Total
This Year: 599,736; Last Year: 548,593 — Increase: 51,143 — Preachers This
Year: 2,400; Last Year: 2,200; Increase: 200. [5]
The reader will perceive that, while the aggregate increase this year is
unusually large, the revivals having been very general and powerful during
the past year, there was a decrease of one hundred and sixty five among the
aboriginal converts. This was owing chiefly to the continual agitations and
troubles arising out of their removal west of the Mississippi. For, though
our missionaries did all in their power to keep them together, and to
preserve them from backsliding from God, and even went with the immigrating
parties to their new abodes, yet the distractions introduced into their
councils, together with the embarrassments and such things attendant upon
their removal, created a most deleterious influence upon their religious
character and enjoyments.
1834
We have heretofore noticed the improvements that were gradually making in
building churches and parsonages in many parts of our work. The enlargement
of our borders on every hand, and the increase of membership in the other
circuits and stations, generally created an ability in our brethren and
friends to supply the means to furnish accommodations for the people and
their preachers and the necessity for these things, together with the urgent
calls from the pulpit and the press, particularly in the columns of the
Christian Advocate and Journal, excited them to activity in the discharge of
these duties. Hence churches more commodious and central than heretofore
were erected and erecting, parsonage homes built or rebuilt, and partially
furnished; by which means the difficulties and expenses of removing were
very much lessened, and the congregations became more numerous and
permanent. It will be seen, therefore, that our increase this year and last
was unusually large, and the missionary work went on most delightfully and
prosperously, the whole being aided by protracted meetings, missionary
anniversaries, and prayer meetings. These things, by diminishing the
inducement to desist from traveling, lessened the number of locations.
We have already noticed the commencement of the Liberian mission, its
incipient prospects, and its disastrous results upon the life of the
missionary, the Rev. Melville B. Cox. but, though he had thus fallen a
martyr to his work upon that distant and desolate shore, others were found
to fill his place. At the call of brother Cox, and of the Missionary Society
the Rev. Mssrs. Rufus Spaulding and Samuel O. Wright, with their wives, and
Miss Sophronia Farrington, a female teacher, volunteered their services for
this hazardous enterprise, and were accordingly appointed by the proper
authorities of the society in 1833. While waiting for an opportunity to
embark, the missionaries traveled as extensively as possible through
different parts of the country, held missionary meetings, and thus
contributed much to awaken and to diffuse the missionary spirit among the
people. At length they set sail from Norfolk, Va., on the sixth day of
November, 1833, and landed in Monrovia on the first day of January, 1834.
They were received by the brethren with great cordiality, who hailed them
welcome to their shores, bidding them “God speed” with all their hearts.
They immediately entered upon their work with energy, and a most inviting
prospect of success, the fields before them appearing already “ripe for the
harvest.” But alas! they, too, were destined soon to feel the corroding
effects of an African climate; for amidst the plans of usefulness which they
had in contemplation, and the active discharge of the arduous duties of
their station, on the 9th of February brother Spaulding was seized violently
with the fever, and the rest of the mission family were soon prostrated with
the same disease, to some of whom it proved most fatal. On the first day of
March, when so far recovered from his first attack as to be able to write,
he says, “Sister Wright is dead! She left us on the morning of the fourth
ultimo, and we have no doubt but that she is in heaven, while we are left to
suffer yet longer on earth.”
Brother Wright soon followed his beloved wife to the eternal world. He
survived the first attack, and was so far restored as to be able to walk
about, read, and write, and probably through premature exertion brought on a
relapse, which soon terminated fatally, and his mortal remains sleep beside
those of his wife on the shore of Africa; the bones of Cox having first
sanctified the soil.
Nothing daunted, however, by these disasters with death thickening around
them, and staring them in the face, the survivors persevered in their work
believing that Africa would yet be redeemed. Miss Farrington especially,
though much enfeebled by disease, manifested all the heroism of a martyr:
having laid her soul upon the altar of her God, she seemed determined to
brave every danger rather than relinquish the work in which she had engaged.
But who can resist the course of events? Such were the corroding effects of
the malarian fever, and so frequent and violent were its attacks, that
brother Spaulding and his wife found themselves so much reduced, as to be
unable to pursue their calling; and having but little prospect of regaining
their health in Liberia, they resolved, as the only alternative left to
their choice, to return to the United States. This they accordingly did,
leaving, however, behind them evidences of their piety and zeal, and much to
be hoped for as the result of future laborers. Under another date we shall
endeavor to give a consecutive account of the progress of this mission, from
the time it was committed to the oversight of brother Seys, the present
superintendent of the mission.
Another very important mission was commenced about this time. This was the
Flat Head, or Oregon mission.
That our readers may understand the character of this mission, it is
necessary that they should know something of the situation and state of the
country in which it was established.
The vast territory now known as the Oregon, in which the present mission is
located, was but little known before it was visited by Lewis and Clarke in
the year 1805, under a commission from the United States government. With
immense labor and no little privation, they penetrated the wilderness west
of the Missouri river, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and descended the
Columbia river to its mouth, or where it discharges itself into the Pacific
ocean, in about the forty-sixth degree of north latitude. It is true that
the mouth of this noble river had been entered by Captain Gray, of Boston,
Mass., in the ship Columbus. Having been the first modern navigator who
entered the river, hitherto distinguished as the Oregon, or River of the
West, Capt. Gray called it the Columbia, after the name of the ship in which
he entered its mouth.
This extensive territory lies west of the Rocky mountains a high ridge
stretching through the western part of North America, from the frozen ocean
to Mexico, where it is connected with the Cordilleras, or Andes, which
continue their course from the isthmus of Panama to the straits of Magellan.
From its eastern boundaries on the Rocky mountains, the Oregon territory
extends to the Pacific ocean west, and from the Russian and British
dominions on the north to the northern line of Mexico and California, in
about the forty-first degree of north latitude. This entire country is
claimed by the United States, though its exact limits have not yet been
ascertained and settled by the respective governments who claim jurisdiction
over these western regions.
The Hudson Bay Company, incorporated in 1670 for the purpose of carrying on
the fur trade at Hudson’s Bay, had extended their trading posts to the
Columbia river, and had established a depot at Fort Vancouver, which is
about one hundred miles from the mouth of the Columbia, a very fertile
region of country. Here the governor of the company resides, the public
store is located, and it is the center of trade in all that region of
country. A large farm, belonging to the company, is under cultivation, and
they have plenty of horses and cattle for domestic uses, and every thing is
in a nourishing condition. This company is supposed to be extremely rich,
having accumulated their property by the immense profits accruing from the
fur trade which is carried on extensively with the Indians.
The company, however, instead of improving the moral condition of the
natives, have exerted an opposite influence, unless it may be indirectly, by
opening the way for the introduction of the gospel, and the arts of
civilized life. Many of the agents and clerks connected with this
establishment have been in the habit of marrying, some of them but
temporarily, with the native females, and at the termination of their
service of leaving them and their children to all the miseries of a
semi-barbarous state, and to the poverty and wretchedness consequent upon
their want of industry, and their great aversion to agricultural pursuits.
Hence, the vices of licentiousness, of intemperance, and domestic feuds and
quarrels, superadded to their heathenish practices, had made their condition
even worse than it was in their state of entire barbarism; while most of the
half-breeds grow up in a state of heathen ignorance, irreligion, and
immorality.
In 1811 John Jacob Astor, Esq., of the city of New York, commenced a trading
establishment near the mouth of the Columbia river, and the fort which was
erected was called, in honor of its founder, Astoria. But the war between
Great Britain and the United States commencing soon after, through the
timidity or unfaithfulness of the agents employed by Mr. Astor, the entire
establishment was sold for a trifling consideration to the Hudson Bay
Company, and the project of the North American Fur Company was abandoned.
With the exception of a few white men introduced into the country by these
trading establishments, the whole territory was in the occupancy of the
native tribes, who roamed at large, living upon the fruits of hunting and
fishing, and the trade they carried on with the Hudson Bay Company, and some
few American traders, who casually visited these regions either for the sake
of gain, or from a roving disposition. These consisted of a great number of
small, insulated tribes, who, in addition to their sufferings from poverty
and idleness, were almost perpetually annoying each other by war and
bloodshedding. The whole number of the Indians inhabiting this dreary region
has been variously estimated, from sixty to one hundred and fifty thousand;
probably the latter is nearest the truth.
Those who live on the shore of the Pacific, and along the banks of the
Columbia river know the great Falls, have become very much deteriorated in
their physical and moral condition by their proximity to and intercourse
with the trading establishment and other white people who have occasionally
visited the country, more especially by the introduction of intoxicating
liquors, and those evils growing out of a promiscuous intercourse of the
sexes. These sad fruits of that state of civilization which is unaccompanied
with the blessings of pure religion, fix a fearful responsibility upon the
white population who have made inroads upon the Indian settlements, and they
present one of the strongest barriers against the entrance of the gospel by
the missionaries of Jesus Christ. We shall see, however, in the progress of
this, as well as in the other aboriginal missions which have been conducted
under the auspices of our Society, that this and other impediments have been
overcome by the power of gospel truth, and even these heathen, debased and
corrupted as they were, have been given to Christ for an inheritance. This
seems, indeed to have been “the set time” for God to visit these outcasts of
men with the renovating power his religion, by those means which, while they
confound the wisdom of the wise, plainly show the wisdom of God, and the
power of God.
And although the consequences above mentioned followed the introduction of
the trading establishments in Oregon, and the intermixture of white men
among the natives, yet may we not trace the workings of benignant Providence
in opening the way, that the voice of God’s messengers might be heard in
this wilderness, “crying, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths
straight, that he Himself may enter among them and make them a people for
his glory! The perilous journey of McKenzie, from Montreal, and the
subsequent one of Lewis and Clarke, though undertaken under the patronage of
their respective governments for political purposes, for enlarging the
boundaries of geographical knowledge, and the benefits of trade, were no
doubt rendered subservient to God’s designs of mercy toward these wandering
sons of the forest. Even the “axe and the saw,” in the hands of men, may be
so used as to answer the ends of divine wisdom and love toward the human
race.
The truth of these remarks we may see exemplified in the events connected
with the Oregon mission. These we shall now more particularly endeavor to
present to the reader. Among the various tribes inhabiting this territory,
one was distinguished by the name of “Flat Heads,” because they flattened
their heads in the manner presented in the following likeness. [graphic not
included with the electronic edition — DVM]
The circumstances which led to the establishment of the Oregon, first called
the Flat Head, mission, were as follows: It seems that two of the Indians
belonging to the Flat Head tribe had received an education at a school in
the city of Montreal, then elder the charge of Roman Catholic priests. After
the return of these youths to their tribe, they endeavored, according to the
dim light they had, to instruct their heathen brethren in the truths of
Christianity. This imperfect instruction, mixed, as it was, with the
superstitious notions of the Roman Catholic Church, awakened a spirit of
inquiry among the Indians, and a great desire to know something more
respecting the God of the Christians. This desire was afterward much
increased by the conversation of a white man who had penetrated into their
country, and was present at one of those religious ceremonies which they
scrupulously perform at stated times and in which they exhibit no little of
their heathenish folly and ignorance of spiritual and divine things. This
man, after attentively observing their manner of worship, told them that
they were wrong in their notions of the Supreme Being and of their modes of
conducting religious services, — that there were a people who lived toward
the “rising sun” who had the knowledge of the true God, which they received
from a book he had given them.
On receiving this information, they convened a council to deliberate upon
the propriety of sending a deputation to the people of whom they had heard,
for the purpose of obtaining a more accurate knowledge of these things. This
consultation resulted in dispatching four of their principal men on a
journey over the Rocky mountains, to make the needful inquiries. After
traveling about three thousand miles, they arrived at St. Louis, and were
introduced to General Clarke, the Indian agent, and the colleague of Lewis
in his tour of observation over the Rocky mountains to the north Pacific.
They immediately unfolded to him the object of their mission, and he gave
them such information as he was able respecting the birth, works, character,
doctrine, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, together with
the objects he designed to accomplish by coming into the world, and other
such Scriptural information as he thought might answer their inquiries.
The general facts being communicated to the world through the Christian
Advocate and Journal, in the number for March 1, 1833, accompanied with a
facsimile of the head of a Flat Head Indian, a most lively sensation was
produced in the Christian community, and a great interest excited in behalf
of these wanderers of the desert, who had manifested such an eager desire to
become acquainted with the God of the Christians as to travel through a
wilderness of about three thousand miles for the sole purpose of realizing
the object of their desire. And the interest became yet more intense when it
was ascertained that two of these noble chiefs had fallen victims to death
in St. Louis, in consequence, it was supposed, of the change of climate and
mode of living to which they were subjected while they were upon the very
threshold of obtaining the object of their pursuit.
Soon after the announcement of these facts to the public, the excitement was
raised still higher by a most touching appeal, made through the columns of
the Advocate, by the late Dr. Fisk, whose soul ever burned intensely in the
cause of missions, and who exerted himself in every possible way to help it
forward. In this spirited appeal he inquired whether there were any young
ministers who were willing to devote themselves to this work — to brave the
dangers of the wilderness — to submit to the privations and sacrifices of a
missionary among those Indians, and at the same time to reap the rewards of
such an undertaking! This call was soon answered by two young men, brought
up in Lower Canada, one of whom had been partially educated at the Wilbraham
Academy, and they had both recently entered the traveling ministry. Having
been inured to hardships from their youth, and now giving evidence of their
piety and call to the Christian ministry, their services were accepted by
the proper authorities of the Church, and Jason and Daniel Lee, uncle and
nephew, were appointed missionaries for the Oregon territory, and they
immediately set about preparing themselves for their journey across the
Rocky mountains. As it was desirous to have a school teacher accompany them
on the mission, Cyrus Shepard, a young man of deep piety and competent
talents, volunteered his services, and was accepted by the board of
managers.
On the eve of the departure of Mr. Lee and his companions, it was
ascertained that Captain Wythe, who had before visited that country on a
trading expedition was about to return with a large company by the way of
St. Louis, over land to the Columbia river. This seemed another providential
indication in favor of the mission, and Mr. Lee, in conformity to the advice
of the board of languages, embraced the earliest opportunity for an
interview with Captain Wythe and it resulted in an arrangement to accompany
him in his journey over the Rocky mountains; in the mean time sending his
heavy baggage, consisting of some farming and domestic utensils, clothing,
&c., by way of the Sandwich islands. [Hawaiian Islands — DVM]
The projection of this important mission had a most happy effect upon the
missionary cause generally. As the entire funds of the society, up to this
time, had not exceeded eighteen thousand dollars a year and as this mission
must necessarily cost considerable, with a view to augment the pecuniary
resources of the society, a loud and urgent call was made, through the
columns of the Christian Advocate and Journal, on the friends of missions to
“come up to the help of the Lord” in this emergency; and to assist in this
benevolent work, the Messrs. Lees were instructed, while remaining in the
civilized world, to travel as extensively as possible, hold missionary
meetings, and take up collections; and the “Flat Head” mission, as it was
then called, seemed to possess a charm, around which clustered the warm
affections of all the friends of the missionary enterprise, and special
donations for the “Flat Heads” were sent to the treasury with most cheering
and delightful liberality and avidity. As an evidence of the beneficial
result of these movements, the amount of available funds had risen, in 1834,
from $17,097.05, the sum raised in 1833, to $35,700.15. So true is it that
those who aim at great things, if they do not fully realize their hopes,
will yet accomplish much.
Being thus cheered on by their friends, buoyed up by the prayers of God
people, and animated by the prospect of speedily planting the standard of
the cross for the first time in that distant and desolate part of our
continent, the company left St. Louis, Missouri, on the 10th of April, on
horse back intending to make their first stopping place for recruiting their
stores, and taking their final leave of civilized society at Liberty, about
three hundred miles from St. Louis. Here they were joined by Capt. Wythe and
his company, whence they started for the wilderness about the first of May,
1834. In their company were two Indian youths, one of the Flat Head tribe,
about thirteen years of age, and the other of the Pierced Nose Indians,
about twenty-one years of age, both of whom were brought, at their request,
from beyond the Rocky mountains, by Captain Wythe, in a former journey
through their country. They had expressed a wish to be conducted to the
abodes of white people, with a view to become instructed in their language
and modes of living. While here they had made considerable progress in
learning, and were now taken back by Captain Wythe to assist him as
interpreters in his intercourse with the Indians.
The distance from St. Louis, by the most direct route, was estimated to be
about two thousand three hundred miles; but in consequence of the zig-zag
course they were obliged to make, to shun steep mountains, and to cross
livers, &c., it was not much short of three thousand miles, which, by
traveling at the rate of twenty miles a day, would require one hundred and
fifty days to reach the place of their destination.
In this tedious journey, after exhausting the stock of provisions they were
enabled to carry with them on packhorses, they were obliged to live chiefly
on buffalo meat, which they procured by hunting the buffalo on the extensive
prairies east of the Rocky mountains, in which fatiguing work the
missionaries had to share equally with the rest of the company. They,
however finally arrived in safety, and without any serious accident, though
not without much suffering from hunger, and other incidents of traversing a
wilderness infested with ferocious savages, beasts of prey, and in many
places, particularly on the treeless plains, from the scorching beams of a
summer sun, to the place of their destination. On arriving at the country of
the Flat heads, about which so much had been said and written, they found
them to be few in number, and these few of such a migratory character that
they concluded it best to select some other place as the center of
missionary operations. They therefore proceeded on to Fort Vancouver, the
principal depot of the Hudson Bay Company, where they arrived in the month
of September 1834. They were received and treated with great kindness and
hospitality by Dr. McLaughlin, the company’s agent, and governor of the
colony. On sabbath, the 28th of September, brother Jason Lee preached the
first sermon ever delivered in that part of the country, to a very attentive
audience, composed of whites, half-breeds, and Indians, who listened with
much apparent interest to the truths of the gospel.
With a view to recruit their exhausted strength after such a toilsome
journey, and to collect all the information they could respecting the state
of the country, and particularly the most eligible situation for commencing
the mission, they remained at Fort Vancouver and its vicinity for several
weeks, and on the 14th of December brother Lee preached a second time, after
which he baptized four adults and fifteen children. This was a solemn and
deeply interesting season, being the first time this holy ordinance was ever
administered in the Oregon territory, and therefore seemed like the opening
of their commission as Christian missionaries in heathen lands.
It was a high gratification to Mr. Lee and his worthy companions, to find
themselves so hospitably entertained and respectfully treated by Dr.
McLaughlin and his associates. And after collecting all the information they
could from them and others respecting the state of the country, and
particularly the aboriginal tribes by whom it was inhabited, they finally
concluded it to be most advisable to locate the missionary establishment on
the Williamette river, about twenty-five miles from its junction with the
Columbia, and sixty from where the latter empties its waters into the
Pacific ocean. Here they found a small settlement of white people, composed
of French voyagers, who had been in the service of the Hudson Bay Company,
and some Americans from the United States, who had wandered into that
distant region. Many of them had married native females, and their children
were growing up in heathenish ignorance and immorality, while the parents
themselves were fast assimilating to a state of barbarism.
Being entirely dependent upon their own exertion for accommodations and a
livelihood, the missionaries were compelled to go to work with their own
hands, and fell the trees of the forest, and prepare the ground for
cultivation, and they soon succeeded in erecting a log house thirty-two by
eighteen feet, one story and a half in height. They then proceeded to the
cultivation of a farm, plowing, and sowing grain and such vegetables as they
could procure for culinary purposes. On examination they found that they and
selected a healthy place, and fertile soil, which promised abundantly to
reward the labor of their hands. Having procured these temporary
accommodations, they commenced a course of religious instructions among the
people and as soon as practicable opened a school for the instruction of the
youth, and all things seemed to promise a happy result.
At the request of the head of department at Fort Vancouver, brother Shepard
was left there in charge of a school which had been commenced two years
before by a Mr. Ball, whose letters concerning the state of the country had
been published and read with interest, but who had discontinued his services
as a teacher of youth. The school consisted chiefly of half-breeds,
collected from the vicinity of the fort, and the children of those belonging
to the company. These, together with two Japanese youth to whom he imparted
instruction in the evenings, soon made encouraging improvement in reading,
writing, grammar and a few in geography and the first principles of
mathematics. The labors of brother Shepard, therefore, were of the most
useful character, and were highly appreciated by those concerned.
The information contained in this sketch of the state of things in Oregon
having been communicated to the Missionary Society, and the prospects
arising from these incipient steps toward establishing the mission, and the
crying wants of the many heathen in that wild region, induced the board of
managers, and the bishops, to adopt measures to send, as speedily as
possible, a reinforcement to the mission. Accordingly a physician and
blacksmith, with their wives and children, a carpenter, a single man, and
three female teachers, in all thirteen, including the children and
domestics, were selected for the mission, and they sailed from Boston in the
month of August, 1836, by the way of the Sandwich islands. With these was
sent a quantity of household furniture, about twenty boxes of clothing of
various sorts and sizes, valued at not less than two thousand dollars, and
also agricultural, mechanical, and surgical instruments, as well as an ample
supply of medicine.
This family arrived in June at the Sandwich islands, where they were treated
with great kindness and hospitality by the missionaries of the American
Board, and after waiting some time for a passage, they set sail, and finally
arrived at the mission house on the Williamette about the last of May, 1837,
where they were hailed with great delight by those already on the spot. They
had the unspeakable satisfaction of finding the two Lees in health, and
pursuing their work with unexampled diligence, and great success. They had
succeeded in procuring the confidence and affection of the natives, and the
other settlers in the neighborhood; had a large farm under cultivation, and
in addition to the log house before mentioned, erected a convenient home for
preaching and for teaching the school, consisting of three rooms, well
arranged, though but indifferently furnished. To the superintendence of this
school, Mr. Shepard had been removed from Fort Vancouver, that he might more
properly fulfill the object of his appointment as a missionary teacher among
the heathen of Oregon. And before the arrival of the last-mentioned family,
having no females attached to the mission, the brethren were compelled not
only to raise their own provisions by cultivating the ground, but also to
work for themselves, to make and mend their own clothes, and for the
children committed to their care, as well as to be their own doctors and
nurses. From a part of these onerous duties they were glad to be relieved by
the arrival and timely services of the females attached to the last family,
to one of whom, Miss Maria Ann Pittman, of the city of New York, a young
lady of eminent piety and respectable attainments, Mr. Jason Lee was married
soon after her arrival and she soon became no less useful to the mission
generally than she was every way agreeable and happy in her conjugal
relation, though she lived but a short time to adorn her profession, and to
comfort her husband in his labors and sacrifices.
Being convinced, from the representations made to the board by brother Lee,
that more help was needed to carry on the mission with energy and success,
measures were adopted to send two additional missionaries, and accordingly,
on the 24th of January, 1837, the Rev. David Leslie, wife and three
children, and the Rev. H. K. W. Perkins, accompanied by a pious young lady
as a teacher, sailed from Boston, in the brig Peru, for the Sandwich
islands, whence they found a passage in a short time to the mouth of the
Columbia, where they arrived in safety after a voyage of about ten months.
They immediately entered upon their work, and soon found the blessing of God
upon their efforts.
Before their arrival, however, brother Lee, with a view to furnish the farm
with stock, had sent, in conjunction with others who had united in the
enterprise, to California, and purchased about six hundred head of domestic
cattle, oxen and cows, about five hundred of which they had driven through a
wilderness of nearly six hundred miles, the rest having perished or strayed
away on the journey. This, though attended with great labor and hardships,
enabled them to stock the farm with milk cows for the use of the missionary
family, and with oxen for plowing, carting, etc., and to provide for
replenishing themselves with all necessary food hereafter, as well as to
keep up such an ample stock of cattle as their means of sustaining them and
their accumulating wants might warrant and require.
But a more important achievement than even this had been effected. A project
was formed by some individuals who had recently become domiciled in the
settlement, to set up a distillery. Knowing that if this succeeded, all
their efforts for the moral renovation and religious instruction of the
people would be unavailing, Mr. Lee set himself to work to prevent the
project from being carried into execution. He called the people together,
and gave them an address on the evil effects of intemperance, and proposed
the formation of a temperance society, under a pledge of total abstinence
from all intoxicating liquors as a beverage, which the people almost
unanimously signed and as the gentlemen concerned had already expended some
money in preparing for their contemplated establishment, the same people who
had joined the temperance society subscribed more than a sufficient amount
to remunerate him for their pecuniary loss, at the same time presenting an
earnest, but respectful remonstrance against their project, urging the
mischief it must, if carried into operation, bring upon the infant
settlement. This had the desired effect. The distillery was abandoned; and,
greatly to their honor its projectors politely declined the proffered
remuneration, and heartily united with the others in the cause of
temperance.
By this means a foundation was laid for the future well-being and prosperity
of this little colony, and very soon God bore testimony to the zealous
efforts of his servants, by pouring out his Spirit upon the people. The work
commenced among the children in the school, and extended to the adults in
the settlement, including some of the different nations, French, English,
Americans, half-breeds, and Indians, who were grouped together in the
village, molding their hearts into the image of Christ, and filling them
with love to God and one another. Upward of forty were the subjects of this
glorious work. This was most cheering to the missionaries, and as an
evidence of their gratitude to God, they formed themselves into a missionary
society and three hundred and forty-eight dollars were subscribed toward the
support of the cause. This was a glorious beginning, being the
“first-fruits” of a more plenteous harvest which they hoped yet to reap from
among the heathen of that land of darkness and desolation.
Several other new places were occupied this year, chiefly west of the
Allegheny mountains, under the auspices of the Missionary Society. Smethport
and Sinnamahoning, in the bounds of the Pittsburgh conference, were
successfully cultivated; and King’s River, in the Missouri conference. In
the northwestern section of the Indiana conference, the Tippecanoe and Eel
River, the Mississinewa and Maumee missions were commenced among the
scattered settlements in that new and thriving country. Point Rock, in the
bounds of the Tennessee conference, and Yalo Bush and Tallahatche missions,
in the Mississippi conference, were commenced this year, and prosecuted with
success. Several additional missions were also begun for the special benefit
of the slaves in the neighborhood of New Orleans, and on the cotton
plantations in the bounds of the Georgia and South Carolina conferences,
which have proved highly beneficial to that class of our population.
As the lands formerly occupied by the Cherokee Indians were filling up
rapidly by white people, that they might not be allowed to grow into a
community destitute of the gospel, four missions were established in this
territory, and they returned the next year four hundred and seven members of
the Church. Mattawoman mission, in the Baltimore conference, embraced a
population not hitherto supplied in the regular way, and one hundred and
fifty-four members were returned in 1835, one hundred and nine of whom were
colored.
The Philadelphia Conference Missionary Society, in addition to assisting
largely in support of the aboriginal missions by the appropriation of its
funds, exerted itself efficiently to supply destitute places within its own
bounds, and Southwark, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, was added to those
heretofore undertaken and supported by this society, and one hundred and
fifty-eight members were returned the next year as the fruit of the labor
bestowed upon it by the missionary.
The successful manner in which these new fields of labor were cultivated,
together with the prosperous state of the work generally, tended to enlarge
the sphere of our usefulness, as well as to increase the number of preachers
and members. It was evident, also, that the ministry was improving in
learning and general knowledge, and consequently in usefulness and
respectability, while the continuance of the revivals was sure indication
that they were not retrograding in piety and zeal.
Another college was founded this year in Lebanon, Illinois, under the
patronage of the Illinois conference. It has gone on prosperously from that
day to this, being under the presidency of a graduate of the Wesleyan
University, a son of one of the old preachers of the New England conference,
the Rev. Joseph A. Merrill. This institution is exerting an improving and
hallowing influence on the present generation of that new and growing
country, by calling into action their intellectual resources, and it
promises stability and usefulness under the superintendence and patronage of
its zealous friends and supporters.
The academies already established, now amounting to about twenty, were in
successful operation, and becoming prolific feeders to the higher seminaries
of learning. These all, no doubt, were exerting a most salutary influence
upon our community, and tended to create among our people generally a more
just appreciation of sanctified learning, and useful, scientific
improvement.
A controversy had arisen in the course of this year respecting the
collections which had been ordered by the General Conference, and were
therefore recognized by the Discipline of the Church, which were made for
specific purposes: such as for the support of the ministry, for missionary
objects, etc. It seems, that some boards of trustees claimed the right, by
virtue of their corporate powers, to take possession of all the moneys which
might be collected in the churches, whether in the classes or otherwise,
whether for specific objects or in the ordinary way, and appropriate them as
they pleased. It was at once seen, that if this claim were yielded to the
trustees, our discipline, providing for a board of stewards and their
duties, would be rendered entirely nugatory, and the collections made for
missionary or any other specific object, might be diverted from their
original purposes, and applied as the common revenues of the Church.
In opposition to this claim, it was pleaded, —
1. That the constitution, both of the general and state governments,
secured to religious denominations all their peculiar rights and
privileges, both as it related to doctrine, rites, ceremonies, and
practice, whether this practice relates to moral, religious, or
pecuniary matters, provided only that they do not contravene any law of
the state, or are not guilty of licentiousness. On this broad principle
of constitutional right, it was contended that those peculiarities
growing out of the Church economy were recognized by legal enactments,
and we were therefore protected by the strong arm of law in the
peaceable exercise of all our rights, privileges, and usages.
2. Hence it followed, that no board of trustees could be authorized, even
were such a disposition manifested by any state legislature, to trample
upon the discipline of their own Church, to nullify a regulation or
usage peculiar to their own denomination, if for no other reason than
because it would be empowering trustees to defeat the object of their
appointment, which was not to annihilate, but to support the
institutions of their Church.
3. Inasmuch, therefore, as our Discipline had provided for the appointment
of stewards, to whom all Class money and quarterly collections were to
be intrusted, as well as the alms of the Church for the benefit of the
poor, the trustees had no right of control over such collections,
because they were made for specific objects, pointed out and prescribed
by the Discipline, namely, the support of the ministry and the poor.
4. And as to moneys raised for missionary purposes, as it was always
notified when collections or subscriptions were taken, that they were
designed for that specific object, and the people gave accordingly, no
board of trustees, nor any other person or persons had a right to
appropriate them for any other than the objects for which they were
given.
5. The duties of trustees were specific and well defined, and they did not,
in either the Discipline or the law of the state, include the receiving
or appropriating the moneys so collected, but they related altogether to
the temporalities of the Church, the taking care of the real and
personal estate by means of money raised for that object alone, and so
specified in the Discipline of their Church, and the law of the land.
These plain, common-sense views, however did not satisfy those individuals
who had set up the claim contended for; and to put the matter at rest, the
questions were submitted to two eminent lawyers in the city of New York.
Their opinion, given entirely independent of each other, the one not knowing
that the other had been consulted, was as follows, which put an end to the
controversy. Lawyer Jay, a son of the late eminent Governor Jay, after
stating the questions at issue, and assigning sundry reasons for his
opinions, decided as follows: —
“The stewards, after paying the allowance to the preachers, send the surplus
to the annual conference. Other collections and subscriptions are directed
or authorized, but in all cases the money raised is subject to one or other
of the conferences, and generally is to pass through the hands of the
stewards.
“Now, the moneys thus collected are not the property of the corporation in
this city. The money, before it was contributed, certainly did not belong to
that corporation, nor has it been given it.
“The corporation are trustees only for the congregations who meet in their
churches. The money has been given for the use of all the congregations
under the jurisdiction of the conference.
“The stewards who have received it are not officers of the corporation,
which can neither appoint nor remove them, nor call them to account. But the
trustees or corporation may, if they please, solicit subscriptions or make
collections for the purpose of defraying their debt or the interest due upon
it.
“The money thus raised will be under their own exclusive management, and the
clergy will have no control over it.
“The only question, then, which requires further consideration, is, whether
the corporation can prohibit the collections directed by the book of
Discipline from being made in their churches? I think they cannot.
“The act of 1784, under which the Methodist Episcopal Church in this city is
incorporated, is its charter, which is not altered by the act of 1813. The
eleventh section has been already explained. By the act of 1784, the
trustees are authorized to take possession of all property already belonging
to the society; to purchase and acquire other property; to lease and improve
land; to erect meeting houses, parsonage houses, school houses, and other
buildings for the use of the society; to make rules for managing the
temporal concerns of the congregation; to have the sole ordering of payments
of the moneys belonging to the congregation; to appoint a clerk, treasurer,
and collector; to regulate the renting of pews, and the fees for burials,
and all other matters touching the temporal concerns of the congregation.
“These temporal concerns relate only to the property vested in the
corporation.
“The right of the incorporated trustees to forbid the collections (if they
possess it) must be derived from the right of property. Being the owners of
the meeting houses it may be thought that they are authorized to control the
use of them, and either to prohibit the preachers from entering them, or to
admit them under such conditions as the trustees shall see fit to prescribe.
And is would be true if they held the meeting houses for their personal
benefit but they hold them, as their name imports, as trustees. What, then,
is the nature of the trust?
“In the first organization of the Methodist society by Mr. Wesley, he
established it as a principle, that the preachers should be independent of
the people; for that, as well as for other reasons, he permitted none of
them to be stationary, or to derive their support from any contract made
with particular congregations and he framed the system of collections to
defray expenses. In this state Methodism was introduced into America, and at
the time when the law of 1784 was passed, the ministers were appointed and
paid as they are at present. The design of that act was, not to alter the
doctrine, discipline, or worship of any denomination but, on the contrary,
to sustain such doctrine, discipline, and worship, by enabling each
congregation to manage its property through the agency of a corporation,
instead of managing it as they had previously done, through the less
convenient agency of private trustees.
“By the act of 1784, the incorporated trustees have certain powers granted
to them — and these powers cannot be exercised by the conferences. But the
trustees themselves must exercise them so as not to defeat the very end and
purpose of their incorporation.
“They cannot exclude from their meeting houses the preachers appointed in
the manner prescribed by the constitution of their Church, nor impose upon
them conditions inconsistent with it.
“I do not mean to say that the conference have unlimited authority. But I am
of opinion that, in directing their preachers to solicit from the liberality
of their hearers the accustomed contributions, without which their system
could not subsist, they have not exceeded their proper limits, and that the
trustees ought not to resist them.
“My answers to the questions proposed to me are as follows: —
1. The religious societies incorporated under the law of 1784 are to be
governed by that law, and not by the act of 1813.
“The eleventh section has been already explained.
1. The framers of the discipline of a church can make no rule contrary to
the law of the land. Such a rule would be a dead letter. But I do not
think that the rules in question concerning collections are of that
nature.
2. With respect to the third question, I understand that previous to the
year 1820 the trustees acted as stewards, and received and paid over the
money raised by collections, in the manner prescribed in the book of
Discipline, and that in 1820 they consented that other stewards might be
appointed, which was done accordingly. This act of the trustees would
not abridge the legal rights of their successors, and therefore has no
influence on my opinion in relation to the other questions.
3. No law gives to the trustees the control of the collections made in the
classes.
“Revenue is the produce of taxes, &c., or the rents and profits of real or
personal estate. In a loose sense, it may denote income of any kind. But in
no sense can the voluntary contributions of individuals for the general
benefit of all the clergy and institutions of a church be considered as the
revenue of any particular congregation or corporation.”
To the two following questions he says, “I answer in the negative, for
reasons already sufficiently explained.” These are the questions: —
1. Does the law make it obligatory on the trustees to take the voluntary
contributions made in the congregations and classes which the Discipline
assigns to the stewards for specific purposes?
2. Can the trustees, by virtue of their corporate powers, compel the
stewards to relinquish the voluntary contributions made in the
congregations and classes in opposition to their official duties, as
defined in the Discipline?”
The other attorney, no less eminent than Mr. Jay for his sound legal
knowledge, David B. Ogden, returned the following answers: —
“My opinion has been requested by some of the members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church in this city upon the following questions: —
“First. Are religious societies incorporated under the law of 1784 to be
governed by that law, or by the act subsequently passed in 1813? If by the
former, what construction is to be put upon the eleventh section of that
act?
“Second. Have the framers of a discipline of a church the right to ordain
provisions which are contrary to the laws of incorporation; and is the
discipline in such a case a dead letter?
“Third. Does the fact that the society submitted to the appointment of
stewards to take charge of part of its funds in 1820, prevent the present
board of trustees from assuming the duties enjoined upon them by statute?
“Fourth. The funds collected in classes are devoted to the use of the
ministry. Will the fourth section of the act of 1813, giving to the trustees
the control of the temporal concerns and revenues of the Church, include
such collections in the classes?
“Fifth. Are voluntary contributions to be considered as revenues of a
church? And have the trustees the power to prevent collections in churches
under their charge by others, without their consent?
“Sixth. Does the law make it obligatory on the trustees to take the
voluntary contributions made in the congregations and classes which the
discipline assigns to the stewards for specific purposes?
“Seventh. Can the trustees, by virtue of their corporate powers, compel the
stewards to relinquish the voluntary contributions made in the congregations
in opposition to their official duties, as defined in the Discipline?
“I give the answers to them, which are according to the best of my judgment.
“First. As to the first question there can be no doubt. The powers of this
religious society as a corporation being derived wholly under the act of
1784, the corporate powers are under that act, and to be looked for in it
only.
“The object of the incorporation is to enable the society to held property,
and to hold it down to their successors, to sue and be sued, and in effect
to give it a personal power, or the power of holding property, of suing and
being sued as if it was an individual. The law never intended further to
interfere with the society, but to leave its doctrine, its discipline, and
form of worship untouched. These are considered as matters with which the
law has nothing to do. This is what the legislature intended to declare by
the eleventh section of the act.
“Second. The framers of the discipline of a church certainly have no power
to ordain provisions contrary to the law of the incorporation. They have no
right to say that the property of the corporation shall not vest in the
trustees under the law in whom the law has vested it, but shall vest in some
other persons — any such ordinance would be absolutely void.
“Third. I think the trustees are bound to take charge of all the
temporalities of the church, and if they have omitted to do so heretofore,
they are bound to do it now.
“Fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh questions —
“The answer to these questions must depend upon one and the same principle.
“The trustees are to possess and enjoy all the temporalities of the society,
by which I understand all its real and personal property: I do not think
money raised in the congregations for special and particular purposes as
forming any part of the property of the Church or society. Suppose a
collection made for the use of the Orphan Asylum, for instance; it seems to
me that the money raised by such a contribution is the property of the
Orphan Asylum, and not of the trustees of the religious society by which it
is raised.
“What collections are to be made in the churches, and for what purposes they
may be made, seem to me to be matters with which trustees have nothing to
do, but belong to those who manage what is called in these questions “the
discipline” of the society. If moneys are raised by contribution, or in any
other way, as part of the general property of the society, the trustees take
them, as a matter of course, for the use of the society. But moneys raised
for special purposes must be held for the use of those purposes by those in
whose hands the discipline of the church chooses to place them. I do not
think the act of incorporation intended or can in any way affect those
moneys. This matter must depend upon those who manage and control the
discipline of the Church.”
These decisions had a very happy influence upon the Church, as they tended
to set the mooted question at rest, and to confine the litigating parties to
their appropriate duties, without attempting any longer to interfere with
each other.
Sixty-eight preachers had located the last year, seventy-five were returned
supernumerary, one hundred and sixty-seven superannuated, and thirty-four
had died.
Among those who exchanged the scenes of labor and employment in this world
for the rest and pleasures of the next, were two of our eminent preachers,
who had labored long with an unblemished reputation to build up the walls of
our Zion.
Barnabas McHenry, of the Kentucky conference, entered the traveling ministry
in 1787, only three years after the organization of our Church. He will be
long remembered in the west, the scene of his youthful labors, as the pious
and diligent servant of the people, to many of whom he was indeed a
messenger of peace and good will. And though he was compelled, in
consequence of debility brought on by excessive labors and sufferings, to
intermit his itinerant ministry from 1796 to 1819, yet he again entered the
work, to which he devoted himself as an effective preacher only two years,
when he was returned superannuated.
It is said that he lived for several years in the enjoyment of “perfect
love,” giving evidence of it by the tempers of his mind, and the deportment
of his life. To the doctrines and discipline of the Church of his choice he
adhered with a firm and commendable tenacity, making them the subjects of
his private meditation and public advocacy, and, withal, feeling their
solemn and saving efficacy upon his mind and heart.
He finally ended his days in peace, and, we trust, rests from his labors.”
Seely Bunn, of the Baltimore conference, was a native of Poughkeepsie, N.
Y., and was born August 1, 1765. After the family settled in Henley county,
Virginia, in the twenty-fourth year of his age, he was made a partaker of
justifying grace, and in 1792 entered the field of itinerant preaching.
In these early days of Methodism in this county, he partook of his quota of
obloquy and privations, more especially when engaged in carrying the gospel
into the new settlements, where accommodations were coarse and poor, and the
work of a traveling preacher laborious and fatiguing. In traversing the
wildernesses of the west, from one new settlement to another he was often
exposed to savage cruelty, had frequently to sleep in the woods, exposed to
the pelting storms, to hunger and cold, and all those privations incident to
the state of the country, and to the life of a Methodist itinerant. But in
the midst of all, his soul was borne up by the promises and presence of God,
and by seeing the fruit of his labors in the awakening and conversion of
sinners.
In this good work he continued until 1814, when he was compelled, from
debility, to take a superannuated relation. He bore his afflictions with
exemplary patience, and finally departed in peace and triumph in the full
prospect of entering into life eternal.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 553.134; Last Year: 519,196;
Increase: 33,938 — Colored This Year: 83,156; Last Year: 78,293; Increase:
4,863 — Indians This Year: 2,494; Last Year: 2,247; Increase: 247 — Total
This Year: 638,784; Last Year: 599,736 — Increase: 39,048 — Preachers This
Year: 2,625; Last Year: 2,400; Increase: 225.
1835
The General Conference of 1832 recommended to the bishops and the managers
of our Missionary Society South America as a proper field for missionary
enterprise; and with a view to ascertain the state of things more accurately
from personal observation, that some person should be sent to explore the
accessible parts of the country, and report on the prospect and feasibility
of establishing missions among the people in that populous region.
It is well known that from the time of the conquest of this country by the
Portuguese and Spaniards, the Roman Catholic religion had been established
by law, and had, therefore, incorporated itself into all the civil
institutions and regulation of the country nor was it less intolerant toward
Protestants than it was cruel toward the natives at the time of its conquest
over their liberties and independence. After, however, the liberation of the
provinces from the dominion of Spain and Portugal, a more tolerant spirit
was gradually diffusing itself through the community, and it was hoped that
the time had arrived when, by the use of suitable means, an impression might
be made, at least upon some minds, favorable to the propagation of a purer
form of Christianity.
South America, at this time, was divided into no less than nine distinct
governments, the largest of which is the empire of Brazil, belonging to the
Portuguese; while Guiana belonged to the English, Dutch, and French; and
Patagotna is possessed by the aborigines; the remaining republics though
wrested from the domination of the kingdom of Spain, were under Spanish rule
and government. But though the several colonies had succeeded, after various
struggles and sanguinary conflicts, to emancipate themselves from foreign
dominion, they were yet in an unsettled state, and much harassed with
intestine divisions and civil commotions, one party succeeding another often
after bloody contests, in supreme power and influence. Since their
disenthralment, however, from the potentates of Europe, many foreigners from
Great Britain, Germany, France, and the United States, had settled in some
of the principal cities, for the purposes of trade and commerce, and were
supposed to be accessible to Protestant ministers; and being near neighbors
to us, inhabiting a part of the American continent, and assimilating their
civil institutions, as nearly as their circumstances would seem to allow to
those of the United States, it was thought to be our duty to make an effort
to establish our religious institutions in that country.
To this were much encouraged soon after the adjournment of the last General
Conference, by a letter received from a Christian gentleman, a member of our
Church, who had resided for some time at Buenos Ayres, in which we were
informed that he had succeeded in forming a small class, and that they were
quite desirous of having a missionary of our denomination sent among them.
His letter was submitted to the board of managers, and after due
deliberation, it was most heartily recommended to the bishops to select some
suitable person and send him on a missionary tour to South America, making
Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres the chief points of observation. Accordingly
Bishop Andrew appointed the Rev. Fountain B. Pitts, of the Tennessee
conference, for this important service, and after traveling through various
parts of the country, holding missionary meetings and taking up collections,
he set sail in the month of July, 1835, for his place of destination. He
visited Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Ayres, Monte Video, and several other places,
and was generally received, more particularly by the English and American
residents, with great affection and respect, and the object of his mission
was highly appreciated. Brother Pitts wrote that he found a few pious
persons both in Rio do Janeiro and Buenos Ayres, to whom he preached with
lively satisfaction, and was much encouraged with the prospect of
establishing missions in both these cities, and probably also in other
places of less note. These encouraging representations led to other measures
of a mole important and permanent character, which with be noticed
hereafter.
The unusual peace and harmony prevailing in our ranks for the five years
past, and the zeal exemplified by ministers and people for the promotion of
the cause of God by the ordinary means of the gospel; as well as by
institutions of learning, sabbath schools, and the distribution of Bibles
and tracts building churches and parsonages seemed to awaken new energies,
and to call forth the resources of the Church in a much more liberal manner
than heretofore for the extension of the work on every hand, but more
particularly by means of missionary labors. We did not know, indeed, how
much could be done until the trial was made. And the several institutions
above alluded to, instead of weakening one another, acted reciprocally upon
each other; the one tending to excite the other to more vigorous action, and
all uniting to produce the most salutary and happy results. This was seen in
every department of our extended work, and the truth of the inspired
declaration was exemplified by every days experience, “He that deviseth
liberal things, by liberal things shall he stand,” and “he that watereth
shall be watered again.”
In the same proportion that we enlarged the sphere of our operations for the
conversion of the world, did the means accumulate for carrying on our work;
and by inducing all to contribute something, none were oppressed, while each
one felt that he had an interest in the general came he was aiding to
support. By means of these appliances the field of missionary labor
especially, both in the new countries and the hitherto unoccupied places in
the older settlements, were constantly supplied with gospel ordinances, the
vigorous action of the heart of the Church sending out, through these main
arteries, the life-blood to every limb and member of the spiritual body, and
they in return, by a lively exercise of their functions, sending it back to
the center, thus keeping up that constant circulation which is essentially
the health and growth of the entire system.
Hence, while a number of the places heretofore supported by the Missionary
Society had so far prospered as to be taken among the regular circuits, new
ones were this year established and prosecuted with vigor and success.
Brazderville, High’s River, and Smithport, in the bounds of the Pittsburgh
conference, and Ripley, Port Washington, Thenton, Calhoun, Cold Water, and
Saganaw, under the patronage of the Ohio conference, were all established
this year, and the men of God who were sent to these places had the
happiness to rejoice over sinners converted to God. Highland, Litchfield,
Mount Pleasant, Barbersville, Manchester, and Pikesville, with in the bounds
of the Kentucky conference embraced new tracts of country, hitherto
unsupplied with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they amply repaid the labor
bestowed upon them.
But the mot extensive field was spread out within the bound of the Illinois
conference, as the streams of emigrants were flowing into that state about
this time with great rapidity in addition to the missions before mentioned
undertaken by the Rev. John Clark, the Menominee was opened for the benefit
of a tribe of Indians in the neighborhood of Green Bay the Milwaukee and
Rock River, both of which extended far into the northwestern boundaries of
that conference, besides various others, as Alton, Flat Branch, Pecan,
Quincy, Knoxville, Iowa, Peoria, Bureau, and Ottowa; all of which embraced
newly settled territories, fast rising in strength and importance, and the
most of them have so prospered, that they have been taken into the regular
work, are supporting their own institutions, and contributing to aid others.
But to carry the blessings of the gospel still further into the western
regions, the Rev. Alfred Brunson was appointed to explore the country, and
ascertain the feasibility of establishing missions among the Indian tribes
on the upper waters of the Mississippi, and in the neighborhood of St.
Peters, where the Sioux and Fox Indians have their habitations. Into these
wild regions he penetrated, sometimes paddling his canoe over lakes and on
the rivers, at other times wending his way through the trackless deserts or
wide-spread prairies, on horseback, sleeping on the ground or in log cabins,
with a view of conveying to these destitute people the blessings of
salvation. He was generally received favorably by the few white people who
had preceded him, by the agents of the government, and by the Indians,
though he encountered some difficulties among the latter in consequence of
wars which they were waging against each other. He finally settled at
Prairie du Chien, at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers,
making it the center of missionary operations in the various settlements
just then forming in that new country, and among the Indian tribes in the
neighborhood. Several missions were begun, and though they have not been
attended with which immediate fruit, when compared with our other Indian
missions, yet it is hoped that a foundation has been thus laid for the
future salvation of these people, and that the ordinances of religion, and
religion itself, shall grow up with the growth of the settlements. As a
means of accomplishing this very desirable object, schools were opened for
the instruction of youth, and the good will of several chiefs was
conciliated, who manifested a disposition to cooperate with the missionaries
in striving to improve the condition of their people.
In the bounds of the Holston conference a missionary district was formed
called Newton, in which there were no less than eight missions, employing
nine preachers, including an Indian interpreter by the name of J. Fields,
who had been converted to the Christian faith, and was now engaged in
promoting the cause among his brethren, the Cherokees, of whom seven hundred
and fifty-two were members of the Church. These several missions, though
spread over a thinly settled country, were greatly blessed of God, as they
returned the next year six hundred and sixty-five Church members.
The Henpeth mission, for the benefit of the colored population, Mountain,
Holly Fork, and Centreville missions, established by the Tennessee
conference, were commenced this year, and prosecuted with vigor and success.
Several new missions were begun this year in the bounds of the Mississippi
conference, mostly for the benefit of the colored people, and they have been
a means of conferring invaluable blessings upon them. And in the new
territories embraced in the Alabama conference, in addition to those
heretofore mentioned, the Nanny Warrior, Canebrake, Clayton, Lime Creek,
Uchee, and Will’s Creek, were this year brought under spiritual culture by
means of missionary labor, and they have yielded an abundant harvest as the
reward of our exertions.
The work was also enlarged in the same means, chiefly for the salvation of
the slaves on the rice and cotton plantations, in the bounds of the Georgia
and South Carolina conferences, much to the gratification of the masters,
and to the joy of the slaves, who were brought to the knowledge of the truth
as it is in Jesus. Some others, in the older conferences, were undertaken,
with various degrees of success and perhaps, in some instances, these
domestic missions were increasing faster than our means would justify,
though it as perfectly within the original scope and design of the
Missionary Society to fill up, as far as practicable, every vacant place
where the people were either too poor, or too indifferent to their spiritual
interests, to provide for themselves. And that these exertions resulted
highly favorable to the cause of Christ, has been abundantly manifested from
the pleasing fact, that whole districts, and even annual conferences, have
been raised up by means of these labors; and in the old and populous town of
Worcester Mass., in which we had no standing until it was occupied as
mission ground in the year 1831, we have now a society of upward of four
hundred members and Worcester is the seat of the New England conference for
1841. Such results speak volumes in favor of the policy pursued by the
Missionary Society. Indeed, nearly every new circuit was now formed under
its auspices, by which the preacher was relieved from suffering, and the
people from pecuniary burdens. Thus the more wealthy and older societies
were blessed with the privilege of helping the poorer, and all in their men
were contributing something for the general good.
Thirty-four preachers had died during the past year, eighty-nine located,
one hundred and nineteen were returned supernumerary, one hundred and fifty
superannuated, six had been expelled and two had withdrawn.
The Church was this year called to mourn over the death of two of her
bishops, namely, William McKendree, the senior, and John Emory, the junior
bishop, both of whom had filled their office with dignity and usefulness,
the one for about twenty-seven years, and the other only about two years and
six months.
Of the former, Bishop McKendree, we have already spoken when giving an
account of his election in 1808. Of his early history, therefore, and of his
labors in the ministry up to the time he entered upon the duties of the
episcopal office, it is needless to say any thing here and nothing more than
a sketch of his character and of his subsequent labors will now be
attempted, nor indeed could more be accomplished, as the public have not yet
been gratified with any published account of his life and death, except what
is contained in his funeral sermon by Bishop Soule.
From the time of his entrance upon the arduous duties of his office until
his death, he labored most assiduously to fulfill his high trust in such a
manner as to preserve the unity, the purity, and integrity of the Church,
and thereby to promote the cause of God among his fellow-men. In some of the
first years of his labors as an itinerating superintendent of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, he was in the habit of traveling from one end of the
continent to the other on horseback, frequently exposed to the hardships and
privations incident to the new countries, and to the fatigues of preaching
every day, besides giving attention to the numerous calls arising out of his
official relation to the Church. His perpetual labor so wore upon his
constitution, which had indeed been severely tried by his great exertions in
the western country previous to his election, that even at the end of four
years, when he was deprived of the able counsel and services of Bishop
Asbury, he was scarcely adequate to the duties of his station. He, however,
so far recovered as to pursue his calling with his accustomed diligence and
fervor until the General Conference of 1820, when he was released from the
responsibility of discharging regularly the duties of a general
superintendent; but only “so far as his health would prudently admit of
it,” he was affectionately requested to “exercise his episcopal functions
and superintending care.” In conformity with this request, he moved from one
annual conference to another, as his strength would permit, presiding in the
conferences occasionally, assisted in stationing the preachers, and gave his
counsel on all matters pertaining to the welfare of the Church. Such,
however, was the character of his complaints, a rheumatic affection, with
frequent attacks of the asthma, attended with great prostration of strength,
that he traveled often with great pain, passed sleepless nights and
wearisome days; but be was borne up by a consciousness of the divine
approbation, cheered by the affectionate greetings of his friends, and the
prospect of that ample reward which awaited him in another world.
After the close of the General Conference of 1824, his constitution seemed
to rally, and he went forward in the discharge of his duties with greater
ease and cheerfulness, traveling extensively, preaching often at the
conferences, attending camp and Quarterly meetings, and everywhere
exhibiting an example of patience, diligence, and fortitude to all who
beheld his perseverance in the work assigned him. To those unacquainted with
the peculiar work of an itinerating superintendent of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, it might seem strange that a man enfeebled by disease,
oppressed by an accumulation of cares and labors, should, nevertheless,
constantly move about from one part of the continent to another, cross and
recross the Allegheny mountains, descend the valleys of the eastern rivers,
preach to a few hearers in log cabins, to thousands under the foliage of the
trees at camp meetings, and then visit the populous cities and villages, and
make the pulpits sound with the voice of mercy and glad tidings. Yet such
was the mode of life of Bishop McKendree. Habit had, indeed, rendered it
necessary to life and comfort. So much so, that the very thought of being
confined to one place was painful, and whenever such an event seemed
inevitable, you might see the strugglings of a soul anxious to avert what he
considered a calamity.
At the General Conference of 1828, which was held in Pittsburgh, Pa., though
unable to preside, he was present in some of its sittings, and assisted by
his counsel in those difficult questions which were then agitated, and
finally adjusted in the manner heretofore related. To a man ever active to
the interests of the Church, and who had devoted more than forty years of
his best energies to promote its welfare, sharing alike in its weal or woe,
it must have been highly gratifying to behold the issue of that convulsive
struggle which so long agitated our Zion, and which, at one time, threatened
a dissolution of its union. Bishop McKendree lived to see the portentous
storm, which had been gathering in the heavens for about eight years, pass
off without material injury, and to beheld peace and harmony serenely
pervade the horizon, illuminated as it was by the mild beams from the “Sun
of righteousness” which now shone out with renewed splendor upon the
spacious fields which were whitening for the harvest.
From this time to the General Conference of 1832, which assembled that year
in the city of Philadelphia, he continued his itinerary tours, often in the
midst of such debility that he had to be assisted in and out of his carriage
by his faithful traveling companion, through various parts of the continent,
mostly in the south and west, enlivening the hearts of his friends by his
cheerful submission to the divine will amidst the pains and afflictions of
life, and receiving every favor showed him by the smile of gratitude and the
embrace of paternal affection. At this conference he seemed to be tottering
under the infirmities of age, and withering under the corroding influence of
protracted disease, while his soul exerted its wonted energies in devising
or approving of plans for the prosperity of the Church. Like a patriarch in
the midst of his family, with his head silvered over by the frost of
seventy-five winters and a countenance beaming with intelligence and good
will, he delivered his valedictory remarks, which are remembered with lively
emotions. Rising from his seat to take his departure from the conference the
day before it adjourned he halted for a moment, leaning upon his staff; with
faltering lips, but with eyes swimming in tears, he said, “My brethren and
children, love one another. Let all things be done without strife or
vainglory, and strive to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of
peace.” He then spread forth his trembling hands, and lifting his eyes
toward the heavens, pronounced with faltering and affectionate accents the
apostolic benediction.
This was his last interview with the delegates of the annual conferences in
General Conference assembled, for a the next General Conference in 1836 his
funeral sermon was preached by one of his surviving colleagues, Bishop
Soule, who had attended him much for several of the last years of his life.
He gives the following account of the last hours of Bishop McKendree: —
“In the spring of 1834 he returned to Nashville, visited and preached in
different places through the summer, and in the fall attended the Tennessee
conference. He preached for the last time in the new church in Nashville, on
Sabbath, the 23d of November, 1834. Here ended the pulpit labors of this
venerable minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who had traveled and
preached for almost half a century. Here that penetrating, yet pleasant
voice, which had been heard with delight by listening thousands, in almost
all the populous cities of these United States, and which had sounded forth
the glad tidings of salvation in the cabins of the poor on the remote
frontiers, or to numerous multitudes gathered together in the forests of the
western territories, and which savage tribes had heard proclaiming to them
the unsearchable riches of Christ, died away to be heard no more. Here he
finished the ministration of the words of eternal life, and closed his
public testimony for the truth of the revelation of God. In the latter part
of December he removed from Nashville to his brother’s, which was his last
travel. From this time it was obvious that he was gradually sinking to the
repose of the tomb. But he had one more conflict before the warfare was
accomplished. From the time that Bishop McKendree became unable to perform
the entire effective work of a general superintendent of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, his mind was frequently deeply exercised with the
apprehension that he might become unprofitable in the vineyard of his Lord.
And it would seem as if he sometimes thought nothing was done, unless he
could compass the whole work, as he had been accustomed to do in the days of
his strength and vigor. He had for many years moved with the foremost in
activity and perseverance, and the idea of following in the rear, and being
left behind, was painful to him, and frequently drew tears from his eyes.
And this sentiment often led him to exertions and labors far beyond his
strength. This fear that he should outlive his usefulness in the Church of
God, and become unprofitable to his fellow-creatures, was the last
afflicting exercise of mind through which he passed; and from this he was
speedily and happily delivered by the prayer of faith. He sunk patiently and
sweetly into all his heavenly Fathers will, and waited in lively hope and
abiding peace for the hour of his departure. The inward conflict had ceased;
his confidence in God was unshaken; faith, strong and unwavering stretched
across the Jordan of death, and surveyed the heavenly country. With such
sentiments, and in such a peaceful and happy frame of mind, the dying
McKendree proclaimed in his last hours, ‘All is Well.’ In this emphatical
sentence he comprehended what St. Paul expressed in view of his departure
from the world and exaltation to an eternal inheritance: ‘For I am now ready
to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, shall give me at that day.’ The last connected sentences which ever
dropped from the lips of this aged and devoted servant of God, who for
almost half a century had made Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today,
and for ever, the end of his conversation, were ‘All is well for time, or
for eternity. I live by faith in the Son of God. For me to live is Christ;
to die is gain.
“Not a cloud doth arise to darken my skies, Or hide for a moment my Lord
from my eyes.” ’
In this calm and triumphant state of mind he continued till he sweetly
’slept in Jesus,’ at 5 o’clock, P. M., March 5th, 1835, in the seventy-eight
year of his age.”
Thus closed the life and labors of this man of God. And though his death had
been anticipated by his friends for some time, yet it seemed to create a
vacancy in the Church not easily to be filled. He had gone in and out among
us as a general superintendent for about twenty-seven years, as the
immediate successor of the venerated Asbury, with whom he had labored as a
colleague for about eight years, and from whose example of devotion and
diligence he had learned the art of government, as well as the necessity of
an active and vigilant oversight of the entire Church.
A brief sketch of his character will close what we have to say respecting
him. And,
1. Bishop McKendree gave unequivocal evidence of deep piety, and of a mind
and heart thoroughly imbued with gospel truth. This evidence is found in
his entire life, in his words and actions.
2. Having devoted the early days of his ministry chiefly to the new
countries west of the Alleghenies, he had neither the time nor the means
of acquiring much information from the study of books, though it was
evident that he had stored his understanding with a variety of the most
useful branches of knowledge for a minister of Jesus Christ. Had he been
favored with the opportunity of a thorough education in his youth, and
pursued the path of science in after years, he might have shone in the
galaxy of literature and science; for he had an understanding
sufficiently strong and acute to enable him to grapple with any subject
within the range of the human intellect, and equal to the acquirement of
any branch of human knowledge.
This was evident to all who were intimate with him and could duly appreciate
his worth His mind, indeed, was capable of the nicest distinctions, of the
most critical researches, and of the widest expansion. How often did he, by
a well-timed and pointed remark, unravel the sophistry of the sciolist and
confound the pedantic pretender to wisdom and science! As if by a sudden
inspiration of thought, he could make a ray of light flash upon a subject,
and then render that clear and intelligible which before was obscure and
perplexed. It was once remarked by a preacher of no mean attainments, who
was on intimate terms with the bishop, that he had often felt himself
mortified and chagrined, when, endeavoring to let him into the secret of
something of importance, he found that the bishop was already in possession
of the facts in the case, and could therefore give more information than the
other could impart.
His constant intercourse with all sorts of company in his various
peregrinations through the country, enabled him to treasure up much useful
knowledge from actual observation, and to suit himself, with an admirable
adaptation, to the variety of classes and circumstances of the people with
whom he came in contact. This also gave him a clear insight into the human
character, and a comprehensive view of that character in all its variety of
shades and distinctions. And though he did not “affect the gentleman” by an
apish imitation of the fopperies of fashion, he was easy and polite in his
manners, while he at all times maintained the dignity and gravity of the
Christian minister. His perfect knowledge of the human character enabled him
to wield with good effect the weapon of truth, and to apply it with
admirable facility and exactness to the various cases which came up for
consideration.
3. As a preacher of the gospel he was plain and pointed, and his sermons
consisted chiefly in explaining and enforcing experimental and practical
godliness. Though possessed of a mind extremely acute, which, had he been
trained to metaphysical researches, would have been competent to the most
abstruse subjects, yet he seldom entertained an audience with dry and
monotonous disquisitions, but entered directly into the heart, laid open the
secret springs of human action, and applied the truths of God’s word to the
understanding and conscience with powerful effect.
There was, indeed, great variety in the character of his sermons. Though he
seldom failed to “make out what he took in hand,” yet he sometimes sunk
rather below mediocrity, while at other times he soared, and expanded, and
astonished you with irradiations of light, and with the power and eloquence
with which he delivered the tremendous truths of God. On these occasions,
assisted, as he most evidently was, by the Holy Spirit, he would carry you
away with him on the eagle wings of truth, and then, having gently seated
you on its firm foundation, melt you into the tenderest emotions by the
sweet and gentle accents of affectionate entreaty, which poured from his ups
in the most pathetic streams of gospel simplicity, truth, and love.
It was a sermon of this character which he preached before the General
Conference in 1808, a few days previous to his election to the episcopal
office, and which, no doubt, contributed much to his elevation to the
station, more especially by securing the votes of those who were not
personally acquainted with him. To give as fair a representation of this
sermon and its effects as I am able, I will simply relate what passed in my
own mind on that occasion.
It was the first General Conference I had ever attended, and the name of
William McKendree was unknown to me, and I believe also to many other junior
members of the conference. He was appointed to preach in the Light Street
church on sabbath morning. The house was crowded with people in every part,
above and below, eager to hear the stranger and among others most of the
members of the General Conference were present, besides a number of colored
people, who occupied a second gallery in the front end or the church. Bishop
McKendree entered the pulpit at the hour for commencing the services,
clothed in very coarse and homely garments, which he had worn in the woods
of the west; and after singing, he kneeled in prayer. As was often the case
with him when he commenced his prayer, he seemed to falter in his speech,
clipping some of his words at the end, and hanging upon a syllable as if it
were difficult for him to pronounce the word. I looked at him not without
some feelings of distrust, thinking to myself, “I wonder what awkward
backwoodsman they have put into the pulpit this morning, to disgrace us with
his mawkish manners and uncouth phraseology.” This feeling of distrust did
not forsake me until some minutes after he had announced his text, which
contained the following words: — “For the hurt of the daughter of my people
am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm
in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why, then, is not the health of the
daughter of my people recovered?” Jer. viii, 21, 22.
His introduction appeared tame, his sentences broken and disjointed, and his
elocution very defective. He at length introduced his main subject, which
was to show the spiritual disease of the Jewish church, and of the human
family generally; and then he entered upon his second proposition, which was
to analyze the feelings which such a state of things awakened in the souls
of God’s faithful ambassadors; but when he came to speak of the blessed
effects, upon the heart, of the balm which God had provided for the “healing
of the nations,” he seemed to enter fully into the element in which his soul
delighted to move and have its being, and he soon carried the whole
congregation away with him into the regions of experimental religion.
Remarking upon the objections which some would make to the expression of the
feeling realized by a person fully restored to health by an application of
the “sovereign balm for every wound,” he referred to the shouts of applause
so often heard upon our national jubilee, in commemoration of our
emancipation from political thraldom, and then said, “How much more cause
has an immortal soul to rejoice and give glory to God for its spiritual
deliverance from the bondage of sin!” This was spoken with such an emphasis,
with a soul overflowing with the most hallowed and exalted feelings, that it
was like the sudden bursting of a cloud surcharged with water, and the
congregation was instantly overwhelmed with a shower of divine grace from
the upper world. At first sudden shrieks, as of persons in distress, were
heard in different parts of the house; then shouts of praise, and in every
direction sobs and groans, and eyes overflowing with tears, while many were
prostrated upon the floor, or lay helpless upon the seats. A very large,
athletic-looking preacher, who was sitting by my side, suddenly fell upon
his seat as if pierced by a bullet; and I felt my heart melting under
sensations which I could not well resist.
After this sudden shower the clouds were disparted, and the Sun of
righteousness shone out most serenely and delightfully, producing upon all
present a consciousness of the divine approbation; and when the preacher
descended from the pulpit, all were filled with admiration of his talents,
and were ready to “magnify the grace of God in him,” as a chosen messenger
of good tidings to the lost, saying in their hearts, “This is the man whom
God delights to honor.” “This sermon,” Bishop Asbury was heard to exclaim,
“will make him a bishop.”
This was a mighty effort, without any effort at all — for all seemed
artless, simple, plain, and energetic, without any attempt at display or
studied design to produce effect. An attempt, therefore, to imitate it would
be a greater failure than has been my essay to describe it, and it would
unquestionably very much lower the man’s character who should hazard the
attempt, unless when under the influence of corresponding feelings and
circumstances.
It has been already remarked, that sometimes he fell below himself, when his
mind appeared to be barren and unfruitful. Though this was the case, yet he
always exhibited the powers of a “master workman,” even when these powers
seemed to be cramped apparently for want of some internal energy to put them
in vigorous motion, and make them play with ease and effect. But what added
much to the force of the truths which he uttered, was his commanding
appearance, the gravity of his demeanor, the sprightliness of his manner,
the fire which shot from an eye which bespoke kindness and intelligence, and
the natural gracefulness of his action in the pulpit. His voice was clear
and musical, and the words which dropped from his lips fell upon the ear
with delight, producing a harmony between the outward voice and the inward
sensation.
His rhetoric was faulty. Either from an impediment in his speech, or from a
habit induced from early usage, as before hinted, he would sometimes hang
upon an unaccented syllable, as in the use of the word continually, on the
penultima he would rest thus, al — ly, as if unable to add the final
syllable to the word. At other times he would clip a word in the middle or
end, and leave it half enounced probably from some imperfection in the
organs of speech. These however, are little things, like black specks in a
diamond, which set off its beauties by contrast and were lost sight of
whenever he so entered into his subject as he generally did, as to make you
forget every thing but the truth he uttered, and the God he proclaimed.
There was also, at times, the appearance of affectation in his manner, and
the modulation of his voice, which detracted, so far as it was apparent,
from the reverence one wishes to feel for an ambassador of the Most High.
Those, however, who may have observed this defect, — and it is certainly a
great defect wherever it is discovered, — may have misjudged and taken that
for art which arose mostly from the variety of emotions produced by the
ebbings and flowings of a full heart, and the several aspects of the
subjects occupying the speakers mind and tongue.
But whatever defects the eye of candid criticism might detect in Bishop
McKendree as a public speaker, or as a sermonizer, judging from the rules of
strict propriety, take him all in all as a preacher of righteousness, sent
of God to instruct mankind in the pure and sublime doctrines of the gospel,
he was a star of the first magnitude, and as such he diffused the hallowing
and mellowing light of divine truth all around him wherever he went, and
whenever he preached. In the west especially, whence he returned surrounded
with a halo of glory which had been gathering around his character for
several years, in the midst of the shakings and tremblings produced by the
camp and other meetings, thousands could say that his preaching was not with
the enticing words of man’s wisdom, “but in power, and in much assurance,
and in the Holy Ghost.” Nor were his labors in the pulpit unappreciated in
the Atlantic states, after he passed through them in the character of a
general superintendent, and had an opportunity to show himself to his
brethren “as a workman that needed not to be ashamed.” His zeal rose with
the dignity of his subject, and his mind expanded as he ranged through the
spacious and prolific field of theological truth, while he chained and
charmed his hearers with the melody of his voice, and penetrated their
hearts by the energy with which he spoke in the name of God, and the
directness of his appeals to the understanding and conscience. Such was
Bishop McKendree in the pulpit.
4. He was an ardent friend and active promoter of all the institutions of
the Church. When the Missionary Society was formed, he entered immediately
into its spirit and design, gave it his hearty support, and defended its
objects both by word of mouth and by his pen, as well as by liberal
contributions. And after our aboriginal missions were begun with so much
success, he visited them personally, preached to the natives, and held
interviews with the chiefs and counselors with a view to obviate
difficulties, and promote their welfare in every way within his power.
5. Let us now view him as a ruler in the Church. As has been already seen,
he constantly set an example to his brethren in the ministry of unreserved
devotion to the cause in which he was engaged, and of indefatigable labor,
so long as his strength would sustain him, in the pursuit of good. This
enabled him to silence the clamors of such as might be tempted to believe
that in the exercise of his executive powers as the president of a
conference, he was guilty of laying burdens upon others which he was
unwilling to bear himself; and the writer of this article had frequent
opportunities, during the five years in which he held the office of
presiding elder under Bishop McKendree’s administration, as well as at other
times, to watch his proceedings, and though sometimes so placed as to have
strong temptations to find just cause of censure, yet truth compels me to
say, that I believe he was always actuated by the purest motives, and an
enlightened desire to act impartially in all cases which came before him for
decision. Whatever partialities he might feel for one in preference to
another, arising out of personal friendship or otherwise, there is good
reason to believe that he never willingly allowed these things to bias his
judgment in the execution of his trust, or in the distribution of the
preachers to their several stations and tasks. And who that understands any
thing of the complicated machinery of Methodism but must know the extreme
delicacy and perplexing difficulty of fixing so many men, some old and
infirm, some young and inexperienced, others of mature age, judgment,
knowledge, and influence, in their several stations, so as to meet, as
nearly and justly as may be, the claims of all, and not disappoint the
expectations of any, either among preachers or people! Such a man must be
more than mortal. And hence the assiduity with which a conscientious bishop
must needs apply himself to this difficult task, even to satisfy the
dictates of his own judgment.
During some periods of his administration, Bishop McKendree had to encounter
no small amount of prejudice, — I trust honestly engendered — in arising out
of the presiding elder question, as he was strongly opposed to any
innovation in this respect. On this account it was thought by some that he
was actuated by a love of power, and that he sought to sustain himself in
his position under the promptings of unjustifiable ambition. There was
created for a time some uneasiness in my own breast, and dissatisfaction in
the breasts of those who opposed him, which subjected his administration to
a severe test, more especially in some of the northern conferences. Time,
however, and more mature reflection, have softened whatever of asperities
may have arisen out of these conflicting opinions, no doubt honestly
entertained on both sides, and removed whatever erroneous views may have
been imbibed regarding either the motives or conduct of Bishop McKendree.
Indeed, even in the midst of the lengthened and sometimes wire-drawn
discussions on the subject in controversy, most of those who stood opposed
to the bishop’s theory, whenever they spoke or wrote of him, such a strong
hold had he upon their affections and veneration, that they called him the
beloved, or the venerated bishop, for indeed he was affectionately loved and
truly venerated by all who knew him, and by those most who knew him best.
And there is little reason now to question that the present order of things
is best adapted to preserve inviolate the unity, usefulness, and energy of
the system, however heavily it may press upon either the episcopacy or the
itinerancy to sustain and keep it in harmonious action.
As a general superintendent, therefore, Bishop McKendree was wise and
discreet, pure and energetic, infusing into the general system of the
itinerancy life and activity, and setting such an example to all, both
preachers and people, as to acquire and maintain their affection and
confidence.
6. Viewed as a man of God, he had many excellences and but few defects. He
was naturally, as all men of genius are, of a warm temperament, his passions
were easily moved, and he sometimes manifested a severity in his disposition
and expressions which detracted from the general amiableness and dignity of
his character, and sometimes wounded the feelings of his friends. Yet with
these strong feelings to grapple with, self-knowledge was so deep, and grace
predominated so powerfully, that he generally possessed his soul in
patience, and even in the midst of conflicting sentiments and arguments, he
had that perfect command of himself, or control over his feelings, that he
seldom betrayed any thing inconsistent with the Christian bishop, evincing a
philosophic gravity which indicated a soul calm and serene, while the storm
might be raging around him. And with the exception of these slight
aberrations from perfect equanimity of temperament, no one could exceed him
in the kind and frank manner in which he treated his friends, “rendering to
all their due,” and making every one feel easy and at home in his presence.
In the social circle he was free and accessible, often enlivening
conversation with instructive anecdotes illustrative of the topics under
consideration. In these seasons of relaxation from the severe duties of his
station, he appeared indeed “gentle and easy to be entreated,” manifesting a
suitable deference to others, frequently drawing out their opinions by
respectful inquiries, and modestly proposing his doubts, that they might be
solved. And in all these movements he never forgot his obligations as a
Christian bishop, often taking pains to distinguish between the respect paid
to him because the Church had honored him with his high office, and what was
due to him merely as a man, thus throwing upon others the honor which seemed
to be given to himself. While religious conversations seasoned and
sanctified these social interviews, they were generally concluded with a few
words of advice suited to the occasion, and an invocation to God for his
blessing upon all present.
7. When compared with Bishop Asbury, in the performance of his official
duties in consecrating men to the work of the ministry, the contrast was
obvious. Though equally fervent, and at times manifesting much more of the
“unction of the Holy One,” yet he fell much below his venerable predecessor
in the dignity and solemnity of his manner, and in the authoritative manner
in which he administered the holy ordinance. Equally impressed, however,
with the imposing obligations of the sacred office, and of its weighty
responsibilities, he neglected no convenient opportunity to impress both the
one and the other upon all who took upon themselves the vows of their God.
And sometimes, under the impulse of a sudden inspiration, he would offer up
to God a fervent intercession for blessings to rest upon them and their
labors, and conclude with a short and pithy admonition or exhortation suited
to the occasion.
8. In presiding in the conferences, impartiality guided his decisions, and
he introduced a more orderly manner of doing business than had heretofore
characterized their proceedings. Bishop Asbury used to say, as an apology
for the desultory manner in which he sometimes allowed the affairs of a
conference to be conducted, “I was with you in weakness, and at first I had
to be president secretary, and almost every thing; but now the days of your
childhood are passed; you have a president who has grown up in the midst of
you, and who therefore, understands your wants; let him, then, lead you
forth as men of mature age, under the dictation of those rules of order you
may mutually devise for youth regulation.” In conformity with this
patriarchal counsel, under the advisement of Bishop McKendree, a set of
by-laws were introduced and adopted for the more orderly manner of
conducting the business of an annual conference. This wise arrangement
prevented the appearance of arbitrary power on the one hand, and the
irregularities of independent action on the other.
In the exercise of his prerogatives as president of the conferences, he was
sometimes called upon to check the forwardness of some, to correct the
wanderings of others, as well as to encourage all to a just and diligent
performance of their respective duties. In administering admonition or
rebuke, he sometimes did it with the keenness of a razor, and yet seemingly
with the mildness of the dove. I remember, on a certain occasion, a young
preacher of more confidence than prudence, who had left some small business
to become an itinerant, was boasting of the great sacrifices he had made for
the cause, when Bishop McKendree checked him by asking, in his peculiarly
soft and mild manner, “Brother, have you made greater sacrifices than St.
Paul resolved to do when he said, If meat make my brother to offend, I will
eat no more meat while the world standeth? Or than those which said, We have
left all for thy sake?” I need not say, that a sense of shame sat on the
countenance of this vain boaster.
But however mild and yielding he might appear in his general administration,
there were times in which he thought the circumstances called for it when he
could show all the firmness of a despot without any of his haughty and
domineering feelings A debate once arose in the New York conference
respecting electing a man to elders orders, who had been a traveling deacon
only one year, because he had traveled for several years in connection with
the Wesleyan conference in England, and he was finally elected. In the
course of the debate, one of the speakers averse to the proposed election
pleaded, that if elected, the presiding bishop would be compelled to assume
the character of a pope, and refuse to ordain him. After the question was
decided, the bishop arose and informed the conference, in mild but firm
tones, that with all his respect for the decision of conference, he must
decline to ordain the brother; “But,” said he, “in doing this I deny the
imputation that I assume the character of the pope, for I act according to
your laws, by which I am forbidden to consecrate a person to the office of
an elder until he shall have traveled two years as a deacon, unless in case
of missionaries, and this brother does not appear in the character of a
missionary. Were I, therefore to ordain him according to your vote, I might
be impeached at the next General Conference for an unconstitutional act, for
which I could offer no reasonable excuse. Hence it is not an assumption of
unauthorized power in imitation of the pope of Rome, in defiance of law and
order, by which I refuse to comply with your request, but it is a deference
I feel for constitutional law, made and sanctioned by yourselves, and from
the infraction of which I am bound by my office, alike to protect both you
and myself. Repeal your law, and make a different regulation, and I will bow
to it with all readiness; but while the law exists I and bound to obey it,
and to see that it is obeyed by others.”
This sensible appeal induced the conference to reconsider its vote, and the
motion to elect was withdrawn. Thus the good sense of the bishop, united
with such a commendable firmness, saved both him and the conference from
perpetrating an unconstitutional act.
9. He was extremely sensitive, and acutely felt the slightest insult, while
he would bear it without resentment. His discriminating mind enabled him to
detect the slightest impropriety in the words or conduct of others, whether
manifested toward himself or another person; and nothing seemed to give him
more pain of mind or severe mortification than the exhibition of those
weaknesses of human nature growing out of an ignorance of the common
civilities and proprieties of life. To these, in his intercourse with his
fellow-men, he was strictly attentive, considering it as much his duty to
treat every person according to the claims which age, station, or office
might give him, as it was to exact similar treatment from others. He thus
gave a practical comment upon the maxims, “Tribute to whom tribute is due;
custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.” And in the
discharge of the relative duties of life, he set an example worthy the
imitation of all, and rebuked especially those uninstructed and
inexperienced youth, whose raw notions of independence led them to make no
discrimination between the old and the young, the officer, the citizen, the
minister and others.
10. I need hardly add, that all his actions were the result of a heart
deeply experienced in the things of God. He lived, indeed, “as seeing him
who is invisible,” and he was most evidently moved forward in the discharge
of his various duties, whether official or otherwise, under the dictation of
that Spirit which “searcheth all things, even the deep things of God.” This
directed and sanctified his labors in the best of all causes, and gave a
beauty and finish to his work in general. Having been thus “created anew
unto good works,” and persevering under the influence of those holy feelings
which were enlivened and purified by the blood of the covenant, he halted
not in the day of trial, nor ceased his work until his divine Master said,
“It is enough: come up higher.”
John Emory, the junior bishop, had also taken his departure to another world
during the year; and his death produced the greater sensation on account of
the sudden and unexpected manner in which it was brought about.
He was born in the state of Maryland, in the year 1788. He was destined by
his parents for the profession of the law, and received an education
accordingly. But God had other work for him to do. At the age of seventeen
he was made a partaker of justification by faith in Jesus Christ, joined the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and soon gave evidence of those talents by which
he was afterward so eminently characterized. In the twenty-second year of
his age, in the year 1810, he entered the traveling ministry in the
Philadelphia conference, of which he became, in due course of trial, a
distinguished member, filling the stations assigned him with ability and
usefulness Though but a junior member of the conference, in 1816 he was
elected as a delegate of the General Conference of that year, and was an
active and intelligent promoter of its measures and objects.
When it was resolved, at the General Conference of 1820, to open a more
direct intercourse with the Wesleyan Methodist conference in England, by a
personal interchange of delegates, Mr. Emory was chosen as our
representative to that elder branch of the Methodist family, and he
accordingly visited England in that capacity. By his Christian and
gentlemanly deportment, and the ability with which he conducted the mission,
he won the affection and esteem of all with whom he had intercourse, and
brought to an amicable adjustment the perplexing difficulties which had
arisen in Upper Canada between the two connections.
In 1824 he was elected assistant book agent, and in 1828 the principal.
While in this station, though his physical strength would not allow him,
during some portions of the time, to perform much active service, yet he was
wise in counsel, judicious in his arrangements of plans for carrying on that
extensive establishment with energy and system, and he applied himself with
diligence and success to accomplish its benevolent objects. But as all these
things will doubtless be presented to the public in his biography now in
press, I need not enter into particulars.
At the end of his term of service in this institution in 1832, he was, as
has been intimated, elected a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He
entered upon the labors of this station with an enlightened zeal, attending
to its peculiar and onerous duties with diligence, with a sound judgment,
and a discriminating mind; and had he lived to the common age of man, he
might have infused into the system a spirit and energy highly beneficial to
the present and future generations; for he was a warm friend and the
advocate of all our institutions, those peculiarly Methodistic, as well as
those relating to education, missionary, and Sunday school operations,
likewise to the publication and circulation of books and general
intelligence. But ere he had time fully to enter upon his high and holy
duties, and to develop the energies of his mind upon these momentous
subjects, he was suddenly called, by one of those mysterious providences not
easily solved by human intellects, to give an account of his stewardship.
Early on the morning of Wednesday, December 16, 1835, he left home in a one
horse carriage, for the purpose of visiting Baltimore on business connected
with his episcopal office. His horse ran away with him, and he was violently
thrown from the carriage, and received such a severe wound in the head, that
he expired about seven o’clock of the same day. His death was the more
melancholy to his friends because his fall, and the wound he received,
deprived him of his senses, so that he was unable to converse with those who
stood around his dying bed, though he was heard to respond an amen to one of
the many prayers which were offered up in his behalf in this hour of trial
and affliction. No one doubted, however, of his preparedness to meet his
fate, and to enter into the joy of his Lord. He died in the forty-eighth
year of his age.
Though the Church was thus deprived of the labors of him to whom she had
awarded one of the highest offices in her gift, ere he had an opportunity of
fully unfolding his capabilities to serve her interests in the capacity of a
ruler, yet he had lived long enough to convince all with whom he had held
intercourse, of the strength of his mind, the acuteness of his intellect,
and of his ability to defend the doctrines and institutions of the Church of
his choice. Hence the mournful tones of sorrow which were heard almost
universally when the news of his sudden and unexpected death was announced,
and the deep and heartfelt grief which was uttered by his surviving friends.
Bishop Emory possessed an acute and discriminating mind, a sound and
comprehensive judgment. Having received a thorough education in his youth,
and devoting some time of his more mature and vigorous days to the study of
the law, his understanding had become accustomed to close thought and
accurate research, and he could therefore quickly and easily distinguish
between truth and error, between right and wrong, while his heart forsook
the one and cleaved to the other.
During his connection with the Book Concern he was frequently called upon to
exert his intellectual powers in defense of what he considered to be truth
and duty. After he became the principal, in 1828, he conducted the editorial
department of the Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review, in doing which
his abilities as a writer were fully tested, and the masterly manner in
which he defended the doctrines, institutions, and usages of the Church
against powerful, and, in some instances, malignant assailants, proved his
competency to the task assigned him, as well as his love of the truth, as
developed in the articles and General economy of the denomination to which
he belonged. Though his writings are not numerous, yet they have reared for
their author a lasting reputation for the accuracy of his researches, for
his depth of thought, the soundness of his views, and for the conclusive
manner in which he could wield an argument.
These same eminent qualities were equally displayed in the pulpit. Owing to
physical debility, brought on perhaps by too much exertion in the early days
of his ministry, at some periods of his public life he was compelled to
remit the regular duties of an itinerant preacher; but whenever he did
appear before the public as an ambassador of Christ, he always evinced a
mind thoroughly imbued with his subject, familiar with the truth, and well
trained to the exercise of its powers in weighing evidence and balancing the
claims of the various subjects which might be presented for consideration.
And the acuteness of his intellectual powers were in no instances more
strikingly illustrated than in his capacity to distinguish the nicest shades
of truth, to detect the smallest intrusions of error, and so to analyze a
subject as to view it in all its parts, and then so to combine it as to
grasp it in his mind as one undivided whole.
It is the easiest thing in the world to generalize, to dogmatize, and to
denounce in strong terms of disapprobation any supposed error in theory and
conduct; but it requires a well-informed and a well-balanced mind to enter
into detail, to discriminate between one thing and another, to trace
parallels, to mark contrasts or resemblances, and when a multitude of
subjects come up for consideration, to select the best, the most fit, and
then to follow out a thought by a regular induction of arguments from
particular facts. Who may not say that truth is preferable to error? — that
the righteous shall be rewarded and the wicked punished? All this is easy.
But it requires a mind accustomed to close thought to ascertain where the
truth lies, to disentangle it from the knotty threads of error in which it
often lies concealed, and to place it so plainly, and pointedly, and
perspicuously before the reader or hearer that it may be seen and felt. Nor
does it require less assiduity of mind and quickness of perception to trace
out the windings of the human heart, to detect the characteristics of the
sinner, to prove him guilty, and then to urge home upon him the tremendous
consequences of his criminal conduct: yet Bishop Emory was fully equal to
this task, and much more. He could, with all the ease imaginable, fix upon
an antagonist the very point in which he erred, trace it in all its windings
and shiftings, and then bring the whole weight of his powerful intellect to
bear upon him with a force, collected by a regular course of argument, which
he could not well resist.
But though thus furnished with material for a sound judgment, he was very
far from possessing an overwhelming confidence in himself. He was in the
habit of collecting information from every source within his reach, of
consulting with his friends on all important occasions, and then following
the best light afforded him. He did not, therefore, imitate those weak but
self-confident persons who seem conscious that neither their productions nor
opinions can bear the light of investigation, and therefore thrust that
before thousands which they seem unwilling to submit to the inspection of a
select few. Not so Bishop Emory. He generally strove either to strengthen
his own opinions by the concurrence of others, or to have his errors
corrected before they should be exposed to the multitude for indiscriminate
condemnation. And such was his good sense, that he was always ready to
hearken to all that could be said against as well as in favor of any of his
positions, and it was by no means difficult to convince a man of his
discernment of an error, should he have incidentally embraced one.
His education, refined as it was by the fire of Christianity, taught him how
to estimate the relative claims of his fellow-men, and to yield to each his
due, whatever might be his station or character. Though he was extremely
sensitive, and could quickly perceive the slightest aberrations from the
rules of strict propriety, he knew equally well how to make due allowance
for human frailties, and to apologize for these faults in others which
seemed the unavoidable result of either ignorance or inattention. Nor could
he retain a spirit of resentment toward any man after discovering the
slightest emotion of repentance; and he was as ready to make atonement for
an offense as he was to accept it.
For many years he was the intimate friend, and for some time the traveling
companion of Bishop McKendree, and I believe one of his most confidential
advisers. It so happened, however, that in the midst of the controversy
respecting the appointment and powers of the presiding elders, I think in
the year 1822, brother Emory felt it his duty to call in question some of
the positions of the bishop, which he had submitted to the annual
conferences, and he did it in such a way as to wound the delicate feelings
of friendship, and for some time thereafter an estrangement took the place
of their former familiar intercourse. This, however, though painful to both,
did not destroy mutual confidence and respect, a proof that a long intimacy
had not detected in either any want of Christian integrity; and it is
mentioned here merely for the purpose of illustrating that trait of
character now under consideration; for the course of events restored mutual
affection and confidence long before death introduced the spirits, first of
the senior, and then, in about nine months, of the junior bishop, to each
other in that world of glory where all these imperfections are remembered
only to heighten the efficacy of that atoning blood which washes and fits
the redeemed to “sing the song of Moses and the Lamb for ever and ever.”
The commanding talents of Bishop Emory, and his comprehensive judgment, gave
him an influential position, more especially after his election to the
episcopal office, which, had he lived in the faithful discharge of its
duties, would have been extensively felt, and highly appreciated. But that
God who “sees the end from the beginning,” saw fit to call him home ere he
had time to immature his plans for future usefulness, and he no doubt “rests
from his labors,” enjoying the rewards of his “work of faith and labor of
love,” in the everlasting kingdom of God.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 566,957; Last Year: 553,134;
Increase: 13,823 — Colored This Year: 83,135; Last Year: 83,156; Decrease:
— Indians This Year: 2,436; Last Year: 2,494; Decrease: 58 — Total This
Year: 652,528; Last Year: 638,784 — Increase: 13,744 — Preachers This Year:
2,758; Last Year: 2,625; Increase: 133.
_________________________________________________________________
[4] It will be perceived that there was [in 1832, not in 1835 shown above
— DVM] a decrease among the Indians of 2,089. This was owing to the
troubles, heretofore noticed, accompanying their removal west of the
Mississippi.
[5] There is an error of ten in the increase of preachers in the printed
Minutes, occurring in the subtraction of the total number of superannuated
preachers.
_________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 13
The General Conference of 1836
This conference assembled in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, on the first of
May, 1836, and was composed of the following delegates: —
New York Conference: Nathan Bangs, Laban Clark, William Jewett, S.
Martindale, Daniel Ostrander, Phinehas Rice, Marvin Richardson, Peter P.
Sandford, John B. Stratten, Beverly Waugh.
New England Conference: Isaac Bonney, Phineas Crandall, Daniel Fillmore,
Joseph A. Merrill, Orange Scott, Charles Virgin, Daniel Webb.
Maine Conference: Charles Baker, Moses Hill, John B. Husted, Heman
Nickerson, William H. Norris, Ezekiel Robinson, George Webber.
New Hampshire Conference: John F. Adams, Charles D. Cahoon, Schuyler
Chamberlain, Samuel Kelly, Samuel Norris, Jared Perkins, Elihu Scott, Elisha
J. Scott, George Storrs.
Troy Conference: S. D. Ferguson, Buel Goodsell, Noah Levings, Sherman Minor,
P. C. Oakley, Charles Sherman, Tobias Spicer.
Oneida Conference: Horace Agard, Elias Bowen, Silas Comfort, George Gary,
George Lane, Zechariah Paddock, George Peck.
Genesee Conference: Asa Abel, Glezin Fillmore, Loring Grant, James
Hemmingway, Wilbur Hoag, Samuel Luckey, Manley Tooker.
Pittsburgh Conference: Joshua S. Barris, Wesley Browning, Charles Elliott,
Robert Hopkins, Thomas M. Hudson, Joshua Munroe, Martin Ruter.
Ohio Conference: William B. Christie, Augustus Eddy, John Ferree, James B.
Finley, Thomas A. Morris, John F. Power, James Quinn, William H. Raper, Le
Roy Swormstedt, John F. Wright, David Young, Jacob Young.
Missouri Conference: Jesse Green Thomas Johnson, George C. Light, Andrew
Munroe.
Kentucky Conference: Henry B. Bascom, Benjamin T. Crouch, H. H. Kavanaugh,
Jonathan Stamper, Edward Stevenson, G. W. Taylor.
Illinois Conference: Peter Cartwright, Hooper Crews, Simon Peter.
Mississippi Conference: Benjamin M. Drake John Lane, William Winans.
Indiana Conference: James Havens, C. W. Ruter, James L. Thompson, Allen
Wiley.
Holston Conference: Thomas K. Catlett, David Flemming, Samuel Patton,
William Patton.
Tennessee Conference: T. L. Douglass, Alexander L. P. Green, G. W. D.
Harris, G. T. Henderson, John M. Holland, John B. McFerrin, Robert Paine.
Alabama Conference: F. H. Jones, Robert L. Kinnon, W. Murrah, W. Wier,
Georgia Conference: Samuel K. Hodges, John Howard, Lovick Pearce, Elijah
Sinclair,
South Carolina Conference: Charles Betts, William Capers, Samuel Dunwoody,
William M. Kennedy, Malcolm M. McPherson, N. Tally.
Virginia Conference: Moses Brock, Thomas Crowder, John Early, H. G. Leigh,
James McAden, Abram Penn, Lewis Skidmore, William A. Smith,
Baltimore Conference: John A. Collins, A. Griffith, D. Steele, N. Wilson,
John Bear, Samnel Brison, Robert Cadden, John Davis, William Hamilton,
William Prettyman, S. G. Roszel.
Philadelphia Conference: David Daily, Manning Force, Solomon Higgins, John
Lybrand, R. W. Petherbridge, Charles Pitman, Levi Scott, James Smith, Jr.
Matthew Sorin, Henry White, William A. Wiggins.
Bishops Roberts, Soule, Hedding, and Andrew were present, and the first
named opened the conference by reading a portion of the Holy Scriptures,
singing, and prayer. Thomas H. Douglass was appointed secretary, and Thomas
F. Sargeant assistant secretary.
After the conference was organized, the president introduced the Rev.
William Lord, as a representative from the Wesleyan Methodist Conference,
and the Rev. William Case, as the representative from the Canada conference,
when the former delivered the following address from the Wesleyan Methodist
conference: —
“To the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the Conferences of
America.
“Very Dear Brethren, — The preachers of our connection, assembled in
conference, however earnestly engaged in numerous and diversified affairs,
requiring diligence, vatolofulness, and prudence in council, cannot be so
pre-occupied with their own most urgent interests as to forget that time
approaches for the holding of your General Conference at we have a
confidential agent in the western continent, in the person of of the beloved
brother, the Rev. William Lord; and that an opportunity is thus presented
for renewing the affectionate fraternal intercourse of the two great
families of Wesleyan Methodism.
On former occasions, the conferences of both connections have alike
acknowledged the beauty and utility of that unity of faith and love which
has happily hitherto subsisted between them, and the value of reciprocal
intercourse by epistles and deputations, as a means of cultivating and
perpetuating the existing union and brotherhood. By taking knowledge of the
steady improvement and resistless growth of our kindred communities, and
giving exercise to the brotherly feelings with which we rejoice in each
other’s welfare and success, we are stimulated to love and to good works,
and confirmed in the principles and affections essential to a catholic
spirit. We also perceive in the co-existence, the independence, and the kind
and intimate correspondence of the two great confraternities of the
Methodist body, a mutual check to evil change in doctrine, discipline, or
practice.
“We sincerely congratulate you on your continued prosperity. The increase of
your members, — the extension of your missions among the aborigines of the
western continent, in regions where you have a whole and appropriate sphere
of action, the establishment and progress of seminaries for your junior
preachers, and all the auspicious circumstances of your great work, are
highly interesting to us as partakers of your joy.
“In reference to the condition and prospects of British Methodism,
notwithstanding some partial agitations in our societies, we have great
cause, on the whole, to thank God and take courage. Our numbers in Great
Britain are nearly the same as at the last conference; but our missionary
department continues to afford us great encouragement, both by actual
increase of converts from sin to God, and by openings for more extended
operations. The experiment, commenced shortly after our last conference of a
theological institution for the improvement of preachers admitted on our
list of reserve, is proceeding in a manner which promises to exceed our best
hopes. In the direction of this, as of all our institutions, it is the
anxious wish of our body, inspired with one unanimous sentiment of
conscientious solicitude, to preserve and perpetuate sound doctrine, and
pure, experimental, and practical religion.
It has already come to your knowledge, as a matter of public notoriety, that
by the blessing of God on the efforts and influence of our connection, and
on the combined endeavors of the religious public of our beloved country, a
great measure for the emancipation of the slaves in all the territories of
Great Britain was eventually conducted to a successful issue in the imperial
legislature; and has since been carried into practical effect in all the
colonies of the empire, with various degrees of completeness, but
universally with safety and advantage, and with results which mightily
encourage us to go forward in our earnest attempts to enlighten and
evangelize the whole population to which favorable access is thus freely
opened.
“Our American brethren will doubtless allow us the fraternal liberty to
express our conviction that great Scriptural principles are opposed to the
continuance of slavery in a Christian state; that the permission of it is
one of those deviations from natural equity and evangelical purity which
call for further deviations to abet and maintain them; that it is contrary
to the precepts of Christianity, and violates and counteracts the principles
and obligations by which the gospel urges those precepts. We trust that your
connection, having already begun to resist and condemn this baneful system,
will, in its own way, be freely and providentially led to such practical
steps as shall produce a consentaneous opinion, feeling, and purpose among
your own people; and will then have the glory of leading the public opinion
of your great and increasing population to such decided views as will result
in a unanimous rejection of slavery and its social mischiefs, on the ground
of its repugnancy to the laws of Christ.
“We rejoice to learn, from various quarters, that in your country, as in
ours, Wesleyan Methodism is steadily and powerfully diffusing Christian
knowledge; and this we trust it will still abundantly effect by advocating
right principles in its periodical publications, as well as by the living
ministry of the gospel. It will, we trust, he the sacred and unalterable
purpose and aim of the Methodist societies, on both sides of the Atlantic,
to maintain uncorruptness of doctrine and life, and to offer a free, a full,
a present, and an everlasting salvation to all people, and to the end of
time.
“Brother Lord is instructed to present to you our warmest Christian
salutations: he will be able to communicate freely with you concerning our
affairs; and, we trust, will be brought to you ‘in the fulness of the
blessing of the gospel of peace.’
“Of all that we have to express in our communications to you, the best is
that he is graciously with us, to whom all power is given in heaven and in
earth, and who is with his disciples always, even to the end of the world.
We earnestly pray that his presence may go with you through the length and
breadth of your States, and throughout your western wilderness, so that
every class and race among your mingled tribes may specially know the truth
as it is in Jesus. Signed, on behalf and order of the conference,
“Richard Reece, President “Robert Newton, Secretary. “Sheffield, August
l8th, 1835.
To this address the conference returned the following answer, appointing the
Rev. Dr. Fisk, who was then in Europe, our representative to the Wesleyan
Methodist conference: —
“Honorable Fathers and Brethren, — We have had the pleasure of receiving, by
the hands of your worthy representative, the Rev. William Lord, your kind
and fraternal salutations, as expressed in the epistle with which he was
charged, and which has been read n’ open conference. This, together with the
friendly intercourse of brother Lord among us on the present interesting
occasion, has brought to our recollection those hallowed associations by
which we have been refreshed in former times, by similar tokens of brotherly
love and Christian affection. Assembled as we are, in our General
Conference, is the representatives of the twenty-two annual conferences,
into which our work, for greater convenience and facility in carrying
forward the sacred cause in which we he engaged, is divided, we embrace this
opportunity of expressing our unfeigned gratitude to God for what he hath
wrought on this vast continent by our instrumentality and of our firm and
unwavering attachment to those doctrines and usages, and to that discipline,
by which we have ever been distinguished, and which we have received in
substance from the venerable founder of Methodism.
But in the midst of these recollections, so holy and consolatory, we have
the lament the loss by death, since we last assembled, of our senior
superintendent, the Rev. William McKendree, the brightness of whose example,
for the many years he went in and out among us shone with a steady and
cheering light, and whose setting sun reflects upon those of us who survive
his in the radiance of immortality; of our junior superintendent, the Rev.
John Emory, whose commanding talents and fervent piety gave us reason to
hope that he would be rendered a great blessing to the Church and the world,
but whose sudden and unexpected death, while it has deprived us of his
services, has doubtless transferred him to the brighter regions of eternal
day; — and the loss of our excellent book establishment by fire in the city
of New York, by which disastrous event we have lost about two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars’ worth of stock, including printing and binding
materials, building, etc. And to these losses, which we regard as the
chastisements of our heavenly Father, we may add, a diminution in the number
of our communicants, for the last year, of between two and three thousand.
But while these things call for mourning, for ’searchings of heart,’ for
humiliation and prayer, we are by no means discouraged; for though thus
chastened, we are not in despair, — though cast down, not destroyed. We
trust that the God of providence and grace will raise up others to fill the
places of those who have gone to their reward; and furnish means to resume
our wonted practice of diffusing abroad evangelical principles and holiness
through the medium of the press; and also pour out his Spirit upon our
heritage, and so prosper the labor of our hands, that we shall hereafter
witness an increase of piety and of numbers to our Zion.
But while our domestic work has thus suffered from these and other causes,
not necessary now to mention, we rejoice to witness the growing prosperity
of our missions, both in our own borders, among the aborigines of our
wildernesses, in the rising Colony of Liberia in Western Africa, and in some
of the cities of South America. In the contemplation of these opening
prospects for missionary enterprise, we rejoice in being able to record the
encouraging fact, that our people are cheerfully and promptly pledging a
portion of their substance to aid us in this great and good work. During the
past year our missionary fund has been replenished by about twenty-two
thousand dollars, over and above the amount collected in any one preceding
year; and on our several missionary stations we have had an accession of
upward of four thousand to the number of our church members. For these
manifest tokens of divine approbation upon this department of our work, we
desire to be thankful to him from whom cometh every good and perfect gift,
and to make them motives of renewed exertion and persevering efforts in the
grand missionary cause.
“In common with sister denominations of Christians in our country, we have
been less or more agitated with the perplexing question of Negro slavery.
And, although we receive with respectful deference what you, as our elder
brethren, have said to us in relation to this question, yet we are assured
that, from the known prudence by which your body has ever been
distinguished, had you been as well acquainted with this subject as we are
— could you have viewed it in all its aspects, as it presents itself to us
who are in the midst of it, interwoven as it is in many of the state
constitutions, and left to their disposal by the civil compact which binds
us together as a nation, and thus put beyond the power of legislation by the
general government, as well as the control of ecclesiastical bodies, — could
you have critically analyzed its various ramifications in our country, so as
to have perceived all its delicate relations to the Church, to the several
states, and to the government of the United States, — we cannot doubt that,
while expressing your decided disapprobation of the system of slavery
itself, your tone of sympathy for us would have been deeper and more
pathetic. While on this subject, it may be pertinent to remark, that of the
colored population in the southern and southwestern states, there are not
less than seventy thousand in our Church membership; and that, in addition
to those who are mingled with our white congregations, we have several
prosperous missions exclusively for their spiritual benefit, which have
been, and are still, owned of God, to the conversion of many precious souls.
On the plantations of the south and southwest our devoted missionaries are
laboring for the salvation of the slaves, catechizing their children, and
bringing all within their influence, as far as possible, to the saving
knowledge of Jesus Christ; and we need hardly add, that we shall most gladly
avail ourselves, as we have ever done, of all the means in our power to
promote their best interests.
Having thus given a brief outline of our present state and future prospects,
permit us, dear brethren, to congratulate you on the continued prosperity of
your growing connection. We have witnessed with mingled emotions of pleasure
and gratitude the extension of your work, both at home and abroad,
particularly on your foreign missions. In this grand work we hope to imitate
your pious zeal and, though it may be at a respectful distance, to follow
your steps until we shall meet on some favored spot upon our globe, and
salute each other face to face, as the servants of Him who claims the
heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his
possession.
“Although we have no institution, as, you seem to have supposed we have, of
the character you mention, as existing among yourselves, for the education
of those of your junior preachers who are not actively engaged in the field
of labor, yet we are endeavoring, by such means as are at our command, to
improve our young ministers in the various branches of knowledge which are
deemed requisite for a successful discharge of the functions of their office
and we rejoice in being able to state, that the cause of general education,
in its various branches, from the sabbath and common schools up through the
academic to the collegiate course, has been, and is now, gradually demanding
more and more of our attention; and hence we hope that our ministry, though
none of them has been established for their exclusive benefit, will reap a
proportionate share in the results of these institutions of learning.
“We have availed ourselves of this early period of our session to return to
you our Christian salutations, and to bear testimony to the prudent and
conciliatory manner in which your delegate has thus far discharged the trust
committed to him, that we might not miss the favorable opportunity of
employing the agency of our highly respected and beloved brother, the Rev.
Dr. Fisk, who enjoys our confidence, to present to you in person these
expressions of our affection and esteem. We have therefore requested him to
convey to you an assurance of our undiminished attachment to the Wesleyan
Methodist connection; and to ask that, at our next General Conference, we
may be favored with a representative from your body, whose visit, should it
take place, will, we doubt not, be reciprocated with the same feelings of
brotherly affection by which this intercourse has heretofore been
characterized.
“Earnestly praying that he ‘whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting,’ may guide, sanctify, and ever be with both you and us, we
subscribe ourselves, in behalf of the General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, your brethren and servants in our common Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ.
“R. R. Roberts, [Bishop] “Joshua Soule, [Bishop] “Elijah Hedding, [Bishop]
“James O. Andrew, [Bishop] “Thomas L. Douglass, Secretary Cincinnati, Ohio,
May 5th, 16.”
Friday the 6th was observed as a day of solemn fasting and prayer, and at
eleven o’clock Bishops Roberts and Hedding addressed the conference very
appropriately and feelingly on the general state of the work of God, and on
the strict manner in which discipline should be administered in order to
keep the Church pure from immoral members. There was one point especially on
which Bishop Hedding insisted with emphasis, as devolving a high duty on
those to whom the execution of discipline was intrusted. He remarked, in
substance, that it was the practice of some preachers to wait for a formal
complaint, containing charges and specifications, before they proceeded to
the trial of a supposed delinquent member. This he considered a defective
administration. As the minister was held responsible for the state and
character of the Church, it became his imperative duty, whenever a report
was in circulation against a member of the Church, to institute an inquiry
respecting its truth, and if he found reason to believe there was just cause
of complaint, he was bound to proceed to examine and try the case, as the
discipline directs, without waiting for a formal accusation. Nor is it
perceived how a minister can otherwise discharge his high trusts so as to
give a joyful account to the Judge of all of his stewardship.
On the assembling of the conference a vacancy was perceived, accompanied
with very mournful sensations, on the bench of bishops, by the absence of
Bishops McKendree and Emory, whose deaths are recorded in the preceding
chapter. By a vote of the conference, Bishop Soule was requested to preach
the funeral discourse of the former, and Bishop Roberts of the latter,
which, at a proper time, was done, greatly to the satisfaction of all who
heard them.
Among other things which came up for consideration before the is conference,
was the propriety of dissolving our Bible Society. The existence of this
separate and denominative organization, though it answered its purpose for a
season, was found not to work advantageously either to ourselves or others,
and the question of its continuance had been mooted both, in and out of the
board of managers for some time before the meeting of the conference.
As, however, the constitution of this society was adopted by the General
Conference, and was therefore considered as a Church institution, the
managers thought it inadvisable to cease such operations without the
recommendation of the conference. The conference, after due deliberation,
recommended to the society a dissolution of its existence, and it was, soon
after the adjournment of the conference, dissolved accordingly, and our
brethren and friends were advised to unite in carrying forward the objects
of the American Bible Society. Since that period a harmonious co-operation
has been effected and carried on between us and the other friend and
supporters of that great national institution, mutually satisfactory to all
concerned.
Several alterations and amendments were made in the Discipline, the chief of
which we shall mention.
The rule respecting “laying aside” persons for not meeting in class, which
had been so interpreted as to allow the acting preachers to drop the
delinquent without a trial, was so amended as to make it obligatory on the
parties concerned to allow the accused to be heard in his defense before a
committee, the same as in other cases of delinquency.
The correspondence of the Missionary Society had been hitherto carried on by
one or the other of the brethren connected with the Book Concern; but the
increase of the business, both of that Concern and of the Missionary
Society, made the duties of each so onerous, that it was found impracticable
to unite the two offices any longer without injury to one or both. Hence, on
the recommendation of the board of managers, an article was introduced into
the constitution of the Missionary Society creating a resident corresponding
secretary, who should be devoted exclusively to the interests of the
society, under the direction of the managers. His election was with the
General Conference.
The Liberia mission was erected into an annual conference, “possessing all
the rights, powers, and privileges of other and annual conferences, except
that of sending delegates to the General Conference, and of drawing its
annual dividend from the avails of the Book Concern and chartered fund.”
The following was added to the section on receiving preachers, and their
duty: —
“Whenever a preacher on trial is selected by the bishop for a mission, he
may, if elected by an annual conference, ordain him a deacon before his
probation ends, and a missionary employed on a foreign mission may be
admitted into full connection, if recommended by the superintendent of the
mission where he labors, without being present at the annual conference for
examination.
“At each annual conference, those who are received on trial, or are admitted
into full connection, shall be asked whether they are willing to devote
themselves to the missionary work; and a list of the names of all those who
are willing to do so shall be taken and reported to the corresponding
secretary of the Missionary Society; and all such shall be considered as
ready and willing to be employed as missionaries whenever called for by
either of the bishops.
“It shall be the duty of all our missionaries, except those who are
appointed to labor for the benefit of the slaves, to form their circuits
into auxiliary missionary societies, and to make regular quarterly and class
collections wherever practicable, and report the amount collected every
three months, either by indorsing it on their drafts, or by transmitting the
money to the treasurer of the parent society.
“It shall be the duty of each annual conference to examine strictly into the
state of the domestic missions within its bounds, and to allow none to
remain on the list of its missions which, in the judgment of the conference,
is able to support itself.”
Hoping that the time was not very distant when our missionaries, and those
under the direction of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, by the
continual enlargement of their respective fields of labor, would approximate
and even meet each other in Africa, and also among the aborigines of
America, where we both had missions established, and perhaps at no remote
period in some portions of Europe and Asia, the following paragraph was
added to the section on missions: —
“It shall be the duty of the bishops to instruct all our foreign
missionaries that, whenever they come in contact with any of the
missionaries belonging to the Wesleyan Methodist conference, they shall not
interfere in their respective charges, any farther than to help them in
their work when requested, but shall, on all occasions, cultivate a spirit
of friendship and brotherly affection, as brethren engaged in the same
common cause, namely, the salvation of the world by grace through faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ.”
For the purpose of meeting the local wants of some sections of our country
more perfectly by the introduction of periodical literature and general
intelligence, two additional weekly papers were established, and the one
which had been commenced at Cincinnati by the book agents, on the
recommendation of several of the annual conferences, was sanctioned and
continued, making in all four religious weekly papers, besides the Methodist
Magazine and Quarterly Review, now authorized by the General Conference;
namely, one at New York, one at Cincinnati, another at Charleston, S. C.,
and another at Nashville, Tennessee: besides these there were published four
others, under the patronage of annual conferences, namely, Zion’s Herald, in
Boston, Mass., Maine Wesleyan Journal, in Portland, Maine, Virginia
Conference Journal, in Richmond, Virginia, and the Auburn Banner, issued in
Auburn, N. Y., making altogether eight weekly papers devoted to the
interests of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The claims of the brethren in Canada upon a portion of the capital of our
Book Concern, which had remained hitherto unsettled, were now amicably
adjusted in accordance with the principles embraced in the following
articles of agreement: —
“Whereas, the Canada conference, now in connection with the Wesleyan
Methodists of Great Britain, was formerly united to, and formed port of; the
M.. E. Church; and whereas, the union which by mutual consent then
subsisted, was dissolved at the earnest and repeated solicitations of the
ministers and members of the Church in Canada, which was definitively
determined upon by an act of the Canada conference, who thereupon and
subsequently did form a union with, and become a part of the Wesleyan
Methodist connection; and whereas, there has been a difference of opinion
between the M. E. Church and the Canada conference in regard to the claim
which has been urged by the Canada conference, of an interest in, and a
portion of, the Methodist Book Concern; and whereas the decision of the
several annual conferences, to whom the subject was referred by the General
Conference of 1832, has been averse to the claim of the Canada conference,
and has thereby precluded any further action of the General Conference on
the ground of claim, as made by the Canada conference; but whereas this
General Conference cherishes an affectionate remembrance of the Canada
brethren, and is desirous to manifest its fraternal regard in every suitable
way; and whereas, the Canada conference did, at its last session, appoint
its president, the Rev. William Lord, and the Rev. Egerton Ryerson,
delegates to this General Conference to negotiate its claims on the Book
Concern, and the Rev. William Case having been duly appointed to take the
place of Rev. E. Ryerson in the negotiation; and whereas, the said Rev.
William Lord, president of the Canada conference, and the Rev. William Case,
have full powers to bring to an amicable termination the question pending
between the two connections, therefore it is hereby declared to be mutually
understood and agreed, that the following plan shall be considered as an
arrangement for the full and final adjustment and settlement of the matter
at issue between the Canada conference and the Methodist Episcopal Church;
to wit, The agents of the Methodist Book Concern shall furnish to the book
steward of the Canada conference any of the books which may be issued from
its press at the following rates, subject to the conditions and provisions
hereinafter named: —
1. The general alphabetical catalogue books, whether in sheets or bound,
shall be sold at forty per cent discount from the retail prices, as long
as the present discount of one-third shall be made to wholesale
purchasers, but should the discount be hereafter changed to one-fourth,
then, in that case, the books sold to the book steward of the Canada
conference shall be charged at a discount of one-third from the retail
prices which shall from time to time be affixed to them respectively.
Provided, that this discount shall not apply to such books as may be
reduced below the usual prices on account of rival publishers; and
provided, also, that the Canada conference shall give satisfactory
security in regard to the payment of any debt which may be contracted
with the Methodist Book Concern, within one year from the time such debt
my be created. And it is also expressly understood and agreed, that no
interest shall be demanded or paid on any such debts, unless payment
shall be delayed beyond the period of cred it before named, in which
event interest shall be charged and paid, from and after the expiration
of said credit term. It is also further provided, that all books which
may be ordered by the book steward of the Canada conference shall be at
the risk and expense of the said conference from the time they shall be
forwarded from the Methodist Book Concern.
2. Sunday school books and tracts shall be furnished to the book steward of
the Canada conference at a premium of eighteen percent, to be paid in
general catalogue books at retail prices; and it is hereby declared to
be understood and agreed, that the same provisions and conditions are to
be adjudged applicable to Sunday school books and tracts as have been
specified above in regard to books generally.
3. It is understood and agreed, that the privileges herein secured to the
Canada conference shall be binding o the Methodist Book Concern until
the first day of May, 1852, next ensuing the present date; provided,
also, that the said Canada conference shall regularly and truly make
annual settlements to the satisfaction of the agents of the Methodist
Book Concern, and not otherwise.
4. Finally, it is hereby mutually understood and agreed, that the foregoing
arrangement is considered as a full, and definite, and satisfactory
adjustment of the question which has arisen between the Canada
conference and the Methodist Episcopal Church on the subject of the
Methodist Book Concern.
“In testimony whereof; the agents of the Methodist Book Concern, and the
delegates of the Canada conference, have mutually affixed their respective
signatures, this 18th day of May, 1836, in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio.
(signed)
“B. Waugh and T. Mason, Agents. “William Lord, and William Case, Delegates
from Canada.”
A resolution was then adopted giving discretionary power to the book agents
and book committee in the city of New York to settle with the Canada
conference, on such terms as might be mutually satisfactory, all debts which
were due to the Book Concern by said conference, for books sold and unsold;
which was, soon after the adjournment of conference, done accordingly. Thus
was this long-pending question brought to an amicable termination, on such
terms as to preserve and perpetuate the harmony and brotherly affection
heretofore subsisting between the two connections.
The episcopal committee, after adverting in affecting terms to the death of
Bishops McKendree and Emory, reported in favor of electing three additional
bishops, which, after some debate, was concurred in by the conference.
Accordingly, on the 23d of May, Beverly Waugh was elected on the first
balloting by the votes of eighty-five out of one hundred and fifty-three,
the whole number of votes taken; and Wilbur Fisk by a vote of seventy-eight;
and, after several ballotings, Thomas A. Morris, by a vote of eighty-six.
On the 27th, Beverly Waugh and Thomas A. Morris were duly consecrated to
their high and holy office. In the mean time, the bishops were requested to
consecrate Dr. Wilbur Fisk, who was absent in Europe, as soon as practicable
after his return, provided he should conclude to accept the appointment. He,
however, soon after his return to the United States, declined the office,
and before the next General Conference he was called to his reward in
another world.
The action of this General Conference in favor of missions, education, and
all those institutions designed to aid in the spread of Scriptural truth and
holiness, exerted a salutary influence upon their respective interests, and
tended to diffuse them more extensively through the community. The reports
upon these several subjects were spread before the public through the
columns of the several papers published under the patronage of the Church;
but as they recognized no new principle of action, it is considered not
necessary to insert them here. They showed, however, that the conference was
more and more earnest in its measures to promote sound learning and useful
science among the rising generation, and to carry forward the work of God by
means of missionary operations to the greatest possible extent.
The report of the committee on boundaries, as it was adopted by the
conference, divided the general work into twenty-eight annual conferences,
besides the Mission conference in Liberia.
There was one alteration made in the Discipline at this conference, which
went to affect the administration very materially, as it lodged in an annual
conference a tremendous power over its members for good or evil, according
to the manner in which it might be exercised.
For several successive General Conferences, the question had been mooted,
whether an annual conference had legitimate authority to locate one of its
members without his consent, and the predominant opinion seemed to be that
no such power existed. The question came up for consideration at this time,
and a rule was finally passed, giving to an annual conference the power to
locate one of its members who has rendered himself “unacceptable as a
traveling preacher,” in their judgment, allowing him, however, the privilege
of an appeal to the next General Conference.
This rule is founded on the presumption that whenever a member of an annual
conference fails to fulfill the obligations of his trust, and which were the
conditions on which he entered the fraternity, he forfeits his privileges
and all the immunities of his official rank, and hence the conference has
the right of dismissing him from their employment as an unfaithful servant.
It is allowed, however, that this power ought to be exercised with great
caution and moderation, lest it degenerate into tyranny and oppression.
A rule was also inserted for the trial of an accused superannuated preacher
living out of the bounds of the conference of which he is a member, by a
committee and the presiding elder of the district in which the delinquent
may reside, the ultimate decision of the case being reserved for the
conference of which he is a member.
But that which excited the deepest interest at thus General Conference was
the subject of slavery and abolitionism.
That this subject may be clearly understood, and the controversy to which it
gave birth duly appreciated, we must be allowed to enter into some
historical details. That the Methodist Episcopal Church has always been
opposed to slavery, and has accordingly adopted measures to do it away, and
where this could not be done, to mitigate its evils, is a truth written upon
all her institutions, and confirmed by various enactments of the General
Conference; and she was going on in her steady career of doing good to the
souls and bodies of both master and slave, to the white and colored
population of our country, when she was suddenly arrested by a new species
of measures to effect emancipation.
The success which had crowned the efforts of British philanthropists in
bringing about emancipation in the West Indies, though it was effected by a
compromise between the government and the owners of the slaves, by which the
latter received a supposed equivalent for their legalized property, awakened
a spirit of inquiry in our country respecting the practicability of
emancipating the slaves in our southern and southwestern states, without
waiting for the slow and more safe process of a gradual preparation for such
an event. This spirit was powerfully excited by agents sent out from
England, for the express purpose of lecturing us on the evils of slavery,
and enlightening us on the duty and feasibility of immediate and
unconditional emancipation, not indeed in imitation of the plan adopted by
the legislature of their own country, which was to remunerate, in part at
least, the owners of the slaves for their property; but they insisted upon a
full, and free, and immediate surrender of the slaves, as a political and
religious duty, alike demanded by the laws of God and of nature. These
heedless and enthusiastic lecturers, not understanding the peculiar
structure of our complicated governments, including the state and general
governments, and not caring to distinguish between slavery as it existed
here, and slavery as it had existed in the West Indies, loudly proclaimed a
war against it, with such a flippancy of misguided zeal, that they soon
goaded the public mind almost to madness, and thus aroused a spirit of
resistance to their proceedings and measures which it was not easy to
control. This interference of foreigners with our domestic relations was
considered by the more judicious portions of the community as highly
reprehensible, and worthy of severe rebuke and remonstrance. Accordingly,
the newspapers soon became rife with discussions upon this topic.
Criminations and recriminations followed each other, until the public mind
became so excited as to be incapable of calm and sober investigation on
either side of the question, so that, in some instances, mob violence was
substituted for argument; and “lynch law” for Scriptural and rational
defense. These violent measures were alike condemned by the more sober
portion of both parties.
In this agitated state of things, it could hardly be expected that the
Church should wholly escape the excitement or avoid participating in the
discussions to which it gave rise. Accordingly, as our brethren in the
eastern states entered more deeply into this subject than any others, and as
they had a weekly paper under their control, its columns were opened to the
discussion of slavery as it existed in the United States, and severe
denunciations were uttered against all who held slaves, whether in or out of
the Church. These denunciations were met and repelled with spirit by those
more immediately implicated, as being incompatible with the spirit of
brotherly love which ought to characterize all Christians, and more
especially such as are members of the same communion.
These discussions had been conducted for two or three years previously to
the session of this General Conference, and a weekly paper had been
established in the city of New York for the vowed purpose of advocating
immediate emancipation, irrespective of all consequences. As the arguments
and measures set forth in this and other periodicals of a kindred character
were not fellowshipped by a great majority of our preachers and people even
in the middle and northern conferences, nor by the official organ of the
Church, the Christian Advocate and Journal, these were stigmatized by the
immediate emancipationists as pro-slavery in their views and feelings, and,
of course, as involved in the same guilt and condemnation with those who
actually held their fellow-beings in bondage. These irritating charges were
considered unjust, as the brethren implicated thought they could easily
distinguish between arm approval of slavery as a system, and the apologizing
for those who held slaves under certain peculiar circumstances. This clear
distinction, however, was not admitted by the zealous advocates of immediate
emancipation, and hence they poured forth their anathemas upon all
indiscriminately who either held slaves or offered an apology for those that
did, on account of their peculiar circumstances.
It was in this state of the public mind, and of the Church, that the General
Conference came together in 1836. And though many of its oldest and most
judicious members were very desirous of keeping the discussion of slavery
from the deliberations of the conference, being convinced it could result in
no good, yet several circumstances conduced to bring it in, and to make it
the subject of much debate. In the first place, the allusion to the subject
in the address of our Wesleyan brethren and in the address of their
representative, the Rev. William Lord, made it necessary to advert to it in
the answer of the General Conference, which, it will be perceived by those
who will look at that answer, was done in a very brief and respectful
manner. In the second place, not many days after the conference had
assembled, it was ascertained that two of the abolition brethren from New
England had attended and lectured at an abolition meeting in the city of
Cincinnati; and as the agitation was very great upon that subject, it was
feared by many that a popular excitement would be produced injurious to the
character of the conference, and perhaps detrimental to the peace and
harmony of the Church in Cincinnati. With a view to allay all such
apprehension, the conference passed the following preamble and resolutions,
by a vote of one hundred and twenty in favor and fourteen against them: —
“Whereas, great excitement has prevailed in this country on the subject of
modern abolitionism, which is reported to have been increased in this city
recently by the unjustifiable conduct of two members of the General
Conference in lecturing upon and in favor of that agitating subject; and
whereas, such a course on the part of any of its members is calculated to
bring upon this body the suspicions and distrust of the community, and to
misrepresent its sentiments in regard to the points at issue; and whereas,
in this aspect of the case, a due regard for its own character, as well as a
just concern for the interests of the Church confided to its care, demand a
full, decided, and unequivocal expression of the ideas of the General
Conference in the premises: — Therefore,
1. Resolved, by the delegates of the annual conferences in General
Conference assembled, That they disapprove, in the most unqualified
sense, the conduct of two members of the General Conference, who are
reported to have lectured in this city recently upon and in favor of
modern abolitionism.
2. Resolved, That they are decidedly opposed to modern abolitionism, and
wholly disclaim any right, wish, or intention to interfere in the civil
and political relation between master and slave as it exists in the
slave-holding states in this Union.
3. Resolved, That the foregoing preamble and resolutions be published in
our periodicals.”
The consideration of these resolutions brought the entire subject of slavery
and abolitionism before the conference, and elicited a very spirited and
protracted debate, which finally ended in their adoption, as before
mentioned. Many very able speeches were delivered on both sides of the
question, and generally with good temper and much calmness of deliberation,
though not without some appearance of asperity and warmth of feeling. The
pith of the controversy, however, notwithstanding the whole field of
argument and illustration was amply surveyed, may be comprehended in two of
the speeches, both published at the time, that of the Rev. O. Scott in
favor, and of the Rev. W. Winans against modern abolition. And even this
argument itself may be brought into a very narrow compass.
The course pursued by the Methodist Episcopal Church, from the beginning of
her existence, in reference and in opposition to slavery, as it has all
along existed in the United States, proves that she has always considered it
an evil not to be tolerated except under given circumstances; and that such
circumstances exist in some portions of our Union, where severe penal laws
have been enacted against emancipation, as to justify her in holding in her
communion those who hold slaves, provided they are otherwise pious. That
this was her doctrine is provable from her whole course of proceeding from
the time of her organization in 1784. At this time were passed the severest
laws against slavery which we find upon record at any time of her existence;
but even these aimed at a gradual, and did not insist on an immediate
emancipation; yet finding upon experiment that these severe rules could not
be carried into execution without producing a greater evil than that which
they were designed to remove, about six months after they were passed they
were suspended, and have never been revived, nor were they ever inserted in
her book of Discipline; and at almost every subsequent General Conference
some enactment has been made for the purpose of regulating slavery, of
modifying or mitigating its character, with a view ultimately, if
practicable, to do it away. This has been the doctrine, and these have been
the measures of our Church in reference to this most difficult and
perplexing subject. And they prove most incontestably that she does not, nor
has at any time, considered slave holding, under all circumstances, of such
a deadly character as to “exclude a man from the kingdom of grace and
glory;” for it is manifest that the making rules for the regulation of a
practice is, in some sense, to pronounce that the practice is not, in itself
considered, independently of all concurring circumstances, a moral evil in
the sight of God. To legislate for a thing is to sanction it, though the
manner of holding the thing may be considered either unlawful or
inexpedient.
This statement of the doctrine of the Church will enable us to perceive the
force and scope of the argument now wielded by Mr. Scott against slavery in
the Methodist Episcopal Church. In opposing the above resolutions, he laid
down the following proposition: —
“That slavery is wrong in some circumstances, in no circumstance, or in all
circumstances.” In selecting from these positions the one which suited his
views, he took this strong ground that slavery is wrong, morally wrong,
under all possible circumstances; and in the course of his argument,
contended that no circumstance whatever could alter or modify the sinful
character of slavery; that it was wrong, or a sin not to be tolerated under
any circumstance whatever, either in or out of the Church. By this
comprehensive and sweeping proposition, all who held slaves, whatever might
be the palliating circumstances, were, on that very account, sinners against
God, and ought to be forthwith excommunicated from the communion of the
Church, unless they repented, and “brought forth works meet for
repentance,” by an immediate and unconditional surrender of their slaves,
without any regard to the consequences of such a measure.
And yet, such was the light and force of truth upon this subject, that,
almost in the next breath, Mr. Scott admitted that “God himself expressly
permitted his people to enslave the Canaanites,” thus upsetting at a stroke
the whole array of argument which he had brought to prove that slavery was a
sin under all circumstances; for here was a circumstance in which God either
permitted his people to commit sin, or which did away with the sinfulness of
slavery: the first supposition is daringly impious; the second is fatal to
the argument.
Of this concession, a concession which sacred history had forced from him,
Mr. Winans took advantage, and built upon it the following impregnable
argument: —
That according to this admission, taken in connection with the main
proposition that no circumstance could alter the character of an action, as
it was once right for God to permit slavery, it was therefore always right;
is right now; and no possible circumstance could make it wrong.
This was the very gist of the argument. And the reader will observe, that in
stating the argument thus, Mr. Winans did not attempt to prove that slavery,
as it existed in the United States, is right, or not sinful; but simply to
show, that on Mr. Scott’s concession, his major proposition, that slavery is
a sin under all circumstances, could not be true.
I need not trace this controversy any further. The views of the General
Conference in reference to this subject, as well as others which came up for
consideration, may be seen in the following Pastoral Address, which was
adopted near the close of the conference: —
“To the Members and Friends of the Methodist Episcopal Church
“Beloved Brethren and Friends: — The time has come, in the conclusion of the
session of another General Conference, when it seems proper that we should
address a few thoughts to you, for whom we labor, and for whose present and
future happiness we desire to devote the remainder of our days. We think we
can adopt, at least in some degree, the language of the great apostle to the
Gentiles, ’ ow we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.’
“In taking a review of our work, we rejoice in being able to say that we are
more and more convinced of the truth of those doctrines, and of the
healthful influence of that moral discipline, by which e as a people have
ever been distinguished. These, therefore, we hope, will ever remain the
same, and be handed down to posterity unimpaired, that the generations
following may be led by them into the path of peace and holiness here, and
finally be conducted to eternal life hereafter. The few alterations which
have been introduced into our prudential regulations, into our plan of
missionary operations, and into some portions of our temporal economy, are
such only as the lights of experience, the enlargement of our work, and the
occurrence of new circumstances, have dictated to be expedient and necessary
for carrying forward, to the greatest possible extent, the cause of
reformation and salvation in which we are engaged. These, so far from
impairing those cardinal principles of revealed truth and precepts of
morality, which have been incorporated into our excellent Discipline, by
which we have been guided thus far in peace and prosperity, are designed
merely as helps to develop and apply these principles and precepts to
experimental and practical purposes. Though we have been called upon to
mourn over the loss of our venerated senior bishop, Rev. William McKendree,
and of our junior bishop, the Rev. John Emory, as well as the destruction of
our noble and useful book establishment at New York, yet we are by no means
discouraged; but regarding these chastisements of our heavenly Father, who
has thus corrected us for our good, that we may learn obedience by the
things that we are called upon to suffer, we would endeavor to renew our
diligence in the important work assigned us.
“Though we have had a very considerable increase during the four last years,
yet for the one year past a diminution in the number of Church members
appears on the Minutes of the conferences. Whatever may be the cause or
causes of this decrease, so unusual in our history, it becomes us to humble
ourselves before God, to apply the means at our command for the enlargement
of his work, for the increase of holiness among our selves, as well as the
conversion of sinners to God. Among the means to be used for this purpose,
we may reckon, —
1. A recurrence to first principles; a firm adherence to, and a faithful
development and application of those doctrines of the gospel by which
we, as a Church, have ever been characterized; particularly the doctrine
of holiness, a preached and enforced by him who, under God, laid the
foundation of our spiritual edifice. His maxim was, ‘When the work of
sanctification goes on among believers, the work of God will prosper in
all its branches.’ It becomes, therefore, the imperious duty of all
ministers of Jesus Christ, to explain and enforce the nature and
necessity of this work in the hearts of all their hearers; and it is
equally the duty of these to strive after it in the way of God’s
appointment, and to regulate their lives accordingly. We would,
therefore, remind ourselves, as well as those whom we now address, of
the great necessity of making this subject a cardinal point in all our
ministrations, and in all our public and private duties.
2. The second thing which demands our most serious attention and constant
vigilance, is the right enforcement of our Scriptural discipline. The
history of the Church, from its commencement down to the present period,
confirms the truth of the remark, that pure and undefiled religion has
always prospered in promotion to the strictness with which discipline
has been enforced. The pithy and wise caution of our founder in
reference to this subject should ever be borne in mind, ‘Be strict, but
mild.’ While it is our duty to use all Scriptural means to reclaim an
offending brother, to bear with the infirmities of the weak, and, if
possible, to restore such as may have been seduced by temptation into
sin, in the spirit of meekness yet when these means have failed to
effect the desired object, it is equally imperative for us to discharge
the painful duty of severing from the body the corrupt member. Hence, we
cannot guard with too scrupulous a care, nor watch with too much
vigilance, that which hath been committed to our trust, with a view to
the preservation of the Church in peace and purity, by an impartial
administration of discipline. The accession of numbers to the list of
Church members, unless accompanied with the witness and fruits of the
Spirit, instead of adding strength to the Church, will tend only to
introduce confusion and every evil work. We would, therefore, exhort
all, both ministers and people, to a united exertion in all places, and
at all times, to use every Scriptural and prudent means for the
preservation of the members of the Church in purity, simplicity, and
godly living. The several duties growing out of our relation to God, to
each other, and to the world around us, are so very obvious, so clearly
laid down in the sacred Scriptures, and so accurately defined in our
general rules, as well as so often explained from the pulpit and the
press, that we need not stop to enumerate them here, and will therefore
only observe, that the faithful performance of these duties is the best
evidence we can give to the world, and to each other, of the sincerity
of our Christian profession, and of our devotedness to the cause of
Jesus Christ.
3. The next thing to which we would call your attention, as connected with
our prosperity, is the cause of education. We rejoice to witness the
growing interest which has been felt and manifested in this branch of
our work for a few years past. In the cause of education we include
sabbath and common schools, academies and colleges. Experience and
observation, if not, indeed, the common sense every individual,
demonstrate, that unless we provide the means of education for our
children and youth, they will be led from us to other communities, where
these means are more abundant, and are put within the reach of every
one. Should this unhappily be the case, the consequence is inevitable,
that he children and youth of our community will depart from us, and we
shall he compelled to mourn over the melancholy fact, that they will
have been brought under the influence of doctrines and usages which we
honestly believe will be injurious to their present and future
happiness. Such, indeed, is the eager desire for intellectual
improvement, and the facilities for its attainment in other directions,
that unless we furnish means to gratify this laudable desire, our
children and youth will avail themselves of those thus offered them from
other quarters, and be induced to throw the weight of their influence
into an opposite scale. This consideration admonishes us of our duty in
this respect, and, in a language which cannot be misunderstood, reminds
us of our high obligations to enter more fully and unitedly into this
field of labor.
“In many places we fear that sabbath schools are either entirely neglected,
or but partially attended to; while in others these nurseries for juvenile
improvement are suffered to languish for want of that attention to their
interests which their importance demands. We would therefore urge upon all
concerned a steady, active, and uniform attention to these appendages to the
gospel ministry. Nor are we less solicitous that all our brethren and
friends should be mindful of their duty in selecting such teachers for
primary schools as shall secure to their children the double advantage of
elementary instruction, and religious and moral improvement.
“But it is to the higher branches of education, such as are taught in
academies and colleges, that we would especially call your attention. Of the
former we have under our patronage upward of twenty-of the latter seven, and
two others are in contemplation. Though the academics may be sustained
without drawing largely upon the pecuniary resources of our people, and may
therefore be safely multiplied to an indefinite extent, yet it is manifest
that colleges, in order to answer the end of their institution, must be
liberally endowed. And such is the condition of our country in respect to
these institutions, that though some of the state legislatures have made
small endowments for their support, we must depend chiefly upon our own
resources for their continuance and prosperity. Hence, to increase their
number without adequate funds in hand or in prospect for their support, is
to weaken their influence, if not ultimately to endanger their existence.
“Such, however, is their importance to the interests of our community, so
closely are they identified with our character as a Church, and so
intimately connected with our other institutions which are deemed essential
to our growth, and to that influence which we ought to exert over the public
mind, that we cannot but regard it as a sacred duty to nourish and sustain
them by all the means at our command. If, indeed, at this crisis of our
history, when these literary institutions have just begun to put forth their
energies, and to exert their improving influence upon our youth, and upon
the Church generally, they should be allowed to languish for want of
pecuniary means, the effect would be to throw us back for years in this
branch of intellectual and moral culture. This is an event, however, which
we cannot allow ourselves to anticipate without very painful emotions, but
which can only be prevented by a united and simultaneous action in their
favor, by our wealthy and benevolent friends. That there is ability in the
Church adequate to sustain a suitable number of these nurseries of learning
and fountains of knowledge, were proper means adopted to call it into active
exercise, we cannot doubt; and we therefore affectionately exhort all the
annual conferences, within whose bounds colleges are established, or who
have pledged themselves to aid in their support, to exert themselves in this
laudable work, to make haste to redeem their solemn pledges; and we would
also invite the attention of all our brethren and friends to a hearty
co-operation in whatever measures may be devised by the conferences to
establish these institutions upon safe and permanent foundations, not only
by contributing of their substance for their support, but also by
patronizing them as extensively as their means will allow, by sending their
sons to be educated, as well as by offering their fervent prayers to God for
his blessing to rest upon them.
4. The distribution of religious tracts is another mode of diffusing abroad
a knowledge of the doctrines and duties of Christianity. In this department
of our work we have reason to believe that there has been for some years
past an unjustifiable neglect. Such is the cheapness of these silent
messengers of truth, such the facilities for their circulation by an
itinerant ministry, in co-operation with all those who are zealous for God,
that no justifiable apology can be offered for the non-performance of this
duty-for any one to say that he is not supplied with these means of
spiritual improvement. We would therefore most affectionately invite all our
brethren of the ministry, and of the laity, to use their diligence to form
tract societies, and to engage as many as possible in the work of
distribution in every place. Let there be no circuit or station unsupplied
with these messengers of mercy, and no hand that can be called into action
unemployed in aiding in this good work. Form your societies, collect your
moneys, send to our depositories for tracts, and adopt, as far as
practicable, a regular system of distribution, such a system as shall secure
the co-operation of all concerned, both male and female, young and old. We
need hardly say, that this method of circulating religious knowledge is
adapted especially to the circumstances and wants of the poor, the
illiterate, and the young, for whose present and eternal interest we are
bound in a particular manner to labor.
“This branch of our duty is therefore submitted to your pious consideration,
under a solemn conviction that, if attended to with zeal and discretion, it
will aid us much in the work of saving souls.
5. The continual enlargement of our missionary field, and the increase of
pecuniary means for its occupancy and cultivation, are matters of
congratulation, and of unfeigned gratitude to God. On this subject we need
only exhort you to go on as you have begun, and make the hearts of the
heathen, and the poor of your own land, to rejoice by means of your
liberality. We have adopted a revised constitution, recommended to us by the
managers of our Missionary Society, which we hope will afford increased
facilities for the progress of our missionary work, and enable us more
effectually to cover the whole ground of this extensive and most interesting
department of our labor.
“A field is spread open before us, sufficiently wide and extensive for the
full display of all our liberality, and the exercise of all our energies.
“Such measures have been adopted at this conference in reference to this
subject, as will tend, we humbly trust, to call forth and train up, more
effectually, men for this important work. And surely there is a call — a
most imperious call — for all the men and means, to enable us to fill up
this extensive field with suitable laborers. In addition to those domestic
missions which embrace the poorer settlements of our white population and
the slaves of the south, we hear a voice from the distant tribes of our
wilderness, all along our western and northwestern frontier, yea, even from
the valley of the Columbia river, beyond the Rocky mountains, and on the
very borders of the Pacific, which calls humbly for help. From South
America, from the desolate shores of Africa, as well as from the vast
interior of that mighty continent, a similar voice salutes our ears, and
invites us, yea, commands us, in language which appears to be the echo of
divine Providence to come over and help them. And shall we be deaf to these
calls? We must not. And we are exceedingly happy to have it in our power to
say, that you do not turn a deaf ear to them. You, beloved brethren and
friends, have come up nobly, spiritually, liberally, and prayerfully to this
work. In the name of our common Christianity, and on behalf of those heathen
who, but for this timely aid, must have perished for lack of knowledge, we
heartily thank you; and from having witnessed your past liberality, we take
courage, folly believing that this same benevolent spirit will be continued,
and even augmented in a ratio with the increasing wants of our Missionary
Society. The whole world is indeed before us. Thousands, yea, millions of
immortal beings are, at this moment, enveloped in all the darkness of pagan
superstition, or led astray by the delusions of Mohammedan imposture, or
buried beneath the rubbish of Roman Catholic mummeries and deceitful
workings. Shall we — can we be either idle or indifferent while casting our
eyes upon such a mass of moral corruption? No, indeed! Your full hearts
respond, No, with an emphasis which shall be heard and felt throughout all
the ranks of our Israel and the effects of which will yet be witnessed all
along the line of our missionary operations, and even far beyond, at no
distant period, the places where the footsteps of the missionary have marked
the soil.
“Relying, therefore, upon your hearty co-operation in the grand enterprise
of submitting the world to the obedience of Christ, we confidently submit
this item in the list of our duties to your pious consideration and
benevolent feeling, fully believing that he who hath begun this good work,
will carry it on until the day of Jesus Christ.
6. We now approach a subject of no little delicacy and difficulty, and
which we cannot but think has contributed its full proportion to that
religious declension over which we mourn. It is not unknown to you, dear
brethren and friends, that, in common with other denominations in our land,
as well as our citizens generally, we have been much agitated in some
portions of our work with the very excitable subject of what is called
abolitionism. This subject has been brought before us at our present session
— fully, and, we humbly trust, impartially discussed, and by almost a
unanimous vote highly disapproved of; and while we would tenderly sympathize
with those of our brethren who have, as we believe, been led astray by this
agitating topic, we feel it our imperative duty to express our decided
disapprobation of the measures they have pursued to accomplish their object.
It cannot be unknown to you, that the question of slavery in these United
States, by the constitutional compact which binds us together as a nation,
is left to be regulated by the several state legislatures themselves; and
thereby is put beyond the control of the general government, as well as that
of all ecclesiastical bodies; it being manifest, that in the slave-holding
states themselves the entire responsibility of its existence or
non-existence rests with those state legislatures. And such is the aspect of
affairs in reference to this question, that whatever else might tend to
meliorate the condition of the slave, it is evident to us, from what we have
witnessed of abolition movements, that these are the least likely to do him
good. On the contrary, we have it in evidence before us, that the
inflammatory speeches, writing and movements, have tended, in many
instances, injuriously to affect his temporal and spiritual condition, by
hedging up the way of the missionary who is sent to preach to him Jesus and
the resurrection, and by making a more rigid supervision necessary on the
part of his overseer, thereby abridging his civil and religious privileges.
“These facts, which are only mentioned here as a reason for the friendly
admonition which we wish to give you, constrain us as your pastors, who are
called to watch over your souls as they who must give an account, to exhort
you to abstain from all abolition movements and associations, and to refrain
from patronizing any of their publications; and especially from those of
that inflammatory character which denounce in unmeasured terms those of
their brethren who take the liberty to dissent from them. Those of you who
may have honest scruples as to the lawfulness of slavery, considered as an
abstract principle of moral right and wrong, if you must speak your
sentiments, would do much better to express yourselves in those terms of
respect and affection, which evince a sincere sympathy for those of your
brethren who are necessarily, and, in some instances, reluctantly associated
with slavery in the states where it exists, than to indulge in harsh
censures and denunciations, and in those fruitless efforts which, instead of
lightening the burden of the slave, only tend to make his condition the more
irksome and distressing.
“From every view of the subject which we have been able to take, and from
the most calm and dispassionate survey of the whole ground, we have come to
the solemn conviction, that the only safe, Scriptural, and prudent way for
us, both as ministers and people, to take, is wholly to refrain from this
agitating subject, which is now convulsing the country, and consequently the
Church, from end to end, by calling forth inflammatory speeches, papers, and
pamphlets. While we cheerfully accord to such all the sincerity they ask for
their belief and motives, we cannot but disapprove of their measures, as
alike destructive to the peace of the Church, and to the happiness of the
slave himself. But while we thus express our disapprobation of these
measures, we would, with equally strong and decided language, record our
abhorrence of all unlawful and unscriptural means to check and to counteract
them. All mobs, and violent movements of self-created tribunals, to inflict
summary punishment upon those who may differ from them in opinion, are
condemned alike by the laws of our land, and by every principle of
Christianity. We should therefore be extremely pained and mortified to learn
that any of you should have lent your influence to foment a spirit of
insurrection, in any manner, or to have given sanction to such violent
movements as have, in some instances and places, disturbed the peace of
society, and forestalled the operation of the established tribunals of
justice to protect the innocent and to punish the guilty. To be subject to
the powers that be is a duty enjoined no less by Christianity, than it is a
dictate of common prudence, necessary to be observed for the preservation of
good order, and the support and perpetuation of those civil and religious
institutions which we so highly and justly value as freemen, as Christians,
and as Methodists. The exercise of mutual forbearance in matters of opinion,
is essential in a community where freedom of speech is guarantied to the
citizens by the constitution which binds them together, and which defines
and secures the rights and liberties of all.
“Finally, brethren and friends, we exhort you to unity and brotherly love,
and to the practice of those things which make for peace. Instead of
indulging in those irritating recriminations which tend to disturb the
harmony of the body, and to prevent the exercise of mutual good will and
fraternal feeling, let us follow after that charity which edifieth, and the
cultivation of that love which endureth all things, hopeth all things,
believeth all things.
7. Among other things which have tended not a little to check the progress
of pure religion, may we not include that of political agitations? In a
country where the constitution guaranties to every male citizen of full age
the right of suffrage, where the freedom of speech and of the press is
considered an inviolable right; where free discussion and debate on all
civil as well as religious subjects are permitted unrestrainedly, there must
be great danger of these high privileges being abused by suffering calm and
dispassionate discussion to degenerate into angry recrimination, until
passion usurps a dominion over the judgment, and reason is dethroned to make
way for the despotic reign of wild fanaticism.
“These remarks are not made with a view to abridge you of any of your civil
or political privileges, nor yet to prevent the free exercise of your
dearest rights as freemen and as citizens of this great republic, much less
to bias your minds in favor of the one or the other of the political parties
of our country. Into the party politics of the day we enter not. We leave
every man — every Methodist and friend to Methodism — to act for himself in
these respects. But what we wish is, as far as possible, to guard you
against allowing yourselves to be drawn aside from paramount duties, to mix
in that angry strife of political contests which tends to disturb the peace
of society, to alienate the affections of brethren from each other, and to
interrupt that harmony of feeling which is essential to our spiritual
prosperity. While you cleave to the civil institutions of your country, by
all due honor to magistrates, and freely exercise your rights in the choice
of those who are to rule over you and protect you in the enjoyment of your
privileges, we exhort you to peace, to harmony, to love as brethren, and not
to allow the spirit of party to awaken animosity, nor zeal in the defense of
political distinctions, to dampen your zeal in the cause of God. We wish
that discussion of this sort may not be permitted to engender strife and
envy, but that mutual good will may soften the asperities of political
differences, and cement the hearts of Christian citizens together in love
and brotherly kindness.
“And here we would bear our unequivocal testimony against that partisan
warfare which leads to the detraction of individual character, and to
slanderous representation of motive and conduct. Every man should be
presumed to be innocent until proved guilty before some competent tribunal.
That press, therefore, which drags before the community individual
characters, dealing in personal abuse, and thus holding them up to public
execration, on account merely of political differences, is to be condemned
as a corrupter of public morals, and as tending to the prostration of our
civil and religious liberties. Instead, therefore, of lending your influence
to such a spirit of detraction, we would persuade you to raise your voice
against it, and to let the law of truth and kindness at all times dwell upon
your ups, and influence your conduct in civil as well as religious matters;
and thus, as far as possible, to live in peace with all men.
8. While we wish to devote ourselves, and to beseech all our brethren in
the ministry to devote themselves exclusively to our peculiar work, we beg
leave to remind the membership of the Church of the necessity of providing a
competent support for the ministry. On this subject, however, we need not
enlarge, as you yourselves know perfectly, that he who ministereth at the
altar must be partaker of the things of the altar, and he that ministereth
to you in spiritual things must be partaker of your carnal things.
“In conclusion, we would say, that after a laborious session of twenty-six
days, we separate for our respective fields of labor, and mingle again with
our brethren, under a sense, in some degree at least, of our high
responsibility to God and to his Church, and with a determination to devote
ourselves, by his grace, to our vocation, with renewed diligence and
perseverance; and by beseeching you, dear brethren and friends, to
co-operate with us in the grand work of evangelizing the world. Under a
consciousness of our continual dependence upon divine aid, we desire to look
up to God for the assistance of his Spirit at all times; and to beg an
interest in your prayers, that both we ourselves, and all those with whom we
are connected in Church fellowship, may be preserved blameless until the day
of Jesus Christ; and that by applying ourselves with all diligence in the
use of those means which the God of providence and grace hath put within our
reach, for the furtherance of his holy cause, we may hereafter be
instrumental in reviving his work, and spreading among our fellow men the
‘savor of his name;’ we remain as ever your servants for Christ’s sake.
“Signed by order and in behalf of the General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
“Robert R. Roberts, “Joshua Soule, “Elijah Hedding, “James O. Andrew. “T. L.
Douglass, Secretary. Cincinnati, Oh, May 26,1836.”
As it is not my wish to advert to abolitionism again, I will remark here,
that it has continued to agitate the Church from that time to this, much
disturbing its peace, and, in some of the annual conferences, distracting
its councils, producing finally the secession of a few individuals. Indeed,
it was feared, for a time, that its disastrous results would be extensively
felt, particularly in some of the eastern and northern conferences; but it
has so far passed off in a much more quiet manner than was anticipated, and
it is to be hoped that but few, comparatively, will be seriously and
lastingly injured by these injudicious measures. Perhaps, however, a future
day may disclose facts of a different character, and that a future historian
may be called to bear his testimony to a different result. Though it is
somewhat difficult to reconcile the conduct of some few leaders in the ranks
of abolitionism with a sincere regard to the interests of truth and
righteousness, yet we are willing to award to most of those who engaged in
the controversy an honest desire to meliorate the condition of the slave,
and to purify the Church from what they considered a sinful pollution;
although we cannot but think that their measures were ill-chosen, their
arguments in the main defective, and their severe denunciations and personal
criminations wholly unjustifiable.
The following resolutions have an important bearing upon the itinerancy, and
the necessity for them grew out of an increased disposition among some of
our preachers to engage in agencies for societies with which we had no
connection, and to some of which, as a Church, we were opposed: —
1. Resolved, That this conference deem it highly culpable for any member of
an annual conference, especially for those sustaining supernumerary or
effective relations, to engage in agencies not known or recognized in
the Methodist Episcopal Church.
2. Resolved, That any presiding elder who consents for a preacher to leave
the work assigned him to engage in agencies of any kind not recognized
in the Methodist Episcopal Church, or to become an editor of a paper, is
an aggressor in the sight of his brethren, and should be called to an
account for his conduct.
3. Resolved, That there is no such relation provided for in our Discipline
as that held by an individual who is left without an appointment at his
own request, and that such relations are not promotive of the interests
of Methodism.
4. Resolved, That it is highly improper for any member of an annual
conference to engage in political strife, and to offer for a seat in the
legislative councils, or Congress hall, or to engage in speculations of
any kind that do not draw his earnest attention to the salvation of
souls.”
These resolutions were not incorporated in the Discipline, but were ordered
to be recorded in the journal of each annual conference, for the regulation
of all concerned; and the two first have been of special use in restraining
those who seemed much inclined to leave their appropriate work for the
purpose of becoming itinerant lecturers in favor of abolitionism, which was
then raging in some portions of our country, and which was threatening the
peace and harmony of the Church and the nation. And it is believed that the
measures of this General Conference, and the subsequent acts of the New York
conference, founded upon the known and expressed will of the General
Conference, tended very much to check the ebullition of that frenzy which
had seized the minds of so many of our preachers and people.
Having finished its work, the conference adjourned late in the evening of
May the 27th, to meet again in the city of Baltimore, Md., May 1, 1840.
_________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 14
From the close of the General Conference of 1836 to the commencement of the
General Conference of 1840
From the numbers taken at the several annual conferences, and published in
Cincinnati, it was ascertained that there was a diminution in the aggregate
number of Church members for this year, notwithstanding the zeal which had
been displayed in some sections of the Church to purify it from the
defilements of slavery. The disclosure of this fact, an event so unusual in
our history, led to a serious inquiry into its causes, and various
conjectures were put afloat, some of them chimerical enough, to account for
it. Without attempting to decide dogmatically upon a question admitting of
such a wide range of discussion, and which, after all, is not of so easy
solution as some may imagine, the following are submitted as the most likely
causes to tend to such a result.
1. The unusual excitement which had pervaded the country for a few past
years, seemed to be followed by a sifting of the Church of many who,
under that excitement, might have started in the Christian race without
duly “counting the cost,” and therefore in the “time of temptation fell
away.”
2. The revival of evangelical religion among other denominations might have
contributed its full quota in lessening the number of accessions to our
communion. Time was, in many places, when souls were truly awakened to a
sense of their lost estate, that they came to our ministry as a matter
of course, in order to get spiritual food suited to their wants, other
denominations not insisting as they ought upon the evangelical doctrines
of the Bible, such as the new birth, justification by faith, the witness
and fruits of the Spirit. Now the times were greatly altered for the
better in this respect. During the progress of the great revivals in our
country, nearly all denominations were partakers “of the benefit,”
entered heartily into the work, and their ministers enforced upon the
people the great truths of God our Saviour with powerful effect. The
consequence was, many who otherwise would probably have come among us,
connected themselves with other denominations.
3. In the western country especially, where the decrease was greatest, by
neglecting to furnish convenient places of worship in the more populous
villages, others came in and took possession of them, and thus drew the
population around them before we were aware of it, and thus
circumscribed the sphere of our influence in these particular places.
4. The agitations consequent upon the discussions respecting slavery and
abolitionism, no doubt tended to distract the minds of many, and to
prevent the growth of experimental and practical religion.
But whatever may have been the causes of this diminution in numbers, the
fact awakened a spirit of inquiry, highly beneficial in its results. It led
to self-examination, to self-abasement, humiliation, and prayer, that God
might again visit his heritage with the outpouring of his Spirit, and a
revival of his work.
Notwithstanding this apparent declension in the general work, there was a
gradual enlargement of the field of missionary labor, the particulars of
which will be mentioned hereafter.
The deaths of thirty-five preachers are recorded this year; one hundred and
thirty-six had located, one hundred and sixteen were returned supernumerary,
one hundred and sixty-five superannuated, four had withdrawn, and four were
expelled.
Among those whose deaths are recorded this year, we find the name of Philip
Gatch, who joined the traveling ministry in 1773, under the superintendence
of Thomas Rankin, when there were but ten traveling preachers in America. He
outlived all his contemporaries, and maintained an unblemished reputation to
the last, though he desisted from the labors of an itinerant preacher from
the year 1787 until toward the close of his life, when he was readmitted in
the relation of a superannuated preacher. In this relation he died on
Sabbath evening, the twenty-eighth day of December, 1835, in the
eighty-fifth year of his age. On the day of his eighty-fourth year he
preached his last sermon, and finally closed his life in great peace of
mind, and no doubt rests from his labors.
In the early days of his ministry he endured sometimes “a great fight of
affliction,” having to contend with the common prejudices of the day against
Methodist preachers, and with the troubles originating from the war of the
Revolution. He, however, kept “his soul in patience,” and manfully buffeted
the waves of persecution which sometimes raged around him, though he did not
wholly escape their fury. At one time he fell into the hands of a mob, who,
while endeavoring to cover him with tar, cruelly drew some of it across his
naked eye-ball, which came near destroying the use of his eye; but he still
persevered in his work, “as seeing Him who is invisible,” and who upholds
and rewards his faithful servants in the midst of their labors and
sufferings. Want of health compelled him to desist from the work of a
traveling preacher, and in 1798 he removed into the Northwestern territory,
now state of Ohio, and settled on the Little Miami, a few miles from
Cincinnati. The country was then new, Cincinnati being only an
inconsiderable village, and Methodism scarcely known to its inhabitants.
Here he became actively and usefully engaged as a local preacher, and was
much respected as a citizen, contributing greatly, by his active exertions
and example of piety and diligence, to advance the cause of religion and
morals.
Not willing that he should die in obscurity, unwept and forgotten, his
brethren of the Ohio conference readmitted him into their fellowship as a
worn-out veteran of the cross, and he ended his days in the sight of his
brethren, beloved and respected as “an old disciple” of his Lord and Master.
Christopher Fry, of the Baltimore conference, was a minister of considerable
age and standing, having joined the traveling connection in 1802.
Though not possessed of brilliant talents as a preacher, he was among the
most useful, being deeply read in the Holy Scriptures, and always enforcing
the truths which he uttered by the fervency of his piety, and the godliness
of his example. Apt to teach, and wise to govern, he was selected to fill
the office of presiding elder, and he much endeared himself to his brethren
by the gentleness of his manners, by his diligence in his calling, and his
strict regard to the discipline of his Church.
Though his death was sudden and unexpected to his friends, it did not find
him unprepared. On the sabbath before his death, in an address which he
delivered to the people, he dwelt, with great fervor of spirit and solemnity
of manner, upon Christian experience, and then adverting to his own, he
testified to the knowledge he had of the love of God in his heart, and the
many years he had enjoyed the witness of his acceptance in the sight of God.
“For this faith,” he remarked with emphasis, “I would be willing to burn at
the stake.” Two days after this, while attending to the operations of a
threshing machine, it caught his leg, and ere he could be extricated from
his perilous condition, his thigh bone was broken, his knee crushed, and
nearly the entire limb severely injured. He survived these injuries only
about three hours. In the midst of his exquisite sufferings he said, in
answer to a question by his beloved and weeping wife, “My whole body is in
tumult, but my soul is calm and stayed on God.” After a short interval, in
answer to a friend who inquired the state of his mind, he said, “My body is
in an agony of pain, but my soul is happy, happy, happy!” With these words
faltering upon his lips, he ceased to suffer and to breathe, and no doubt
went to Abraham’s bosom.
Of the others who had taken their departure, excellent things are said both
of their life and death; and their reward is doubtless with their God.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 564,974; Last Year: 566,957;
Decrease: 1,983 — Colored This Year: 82,661; Last Year: 83,135; Decrease:
474 — Indians This Year: 3,033; Last Year: 2,436; Increase: 597 — Total This
Year: 650,668; Last Year: 652,528 — Decrease: 1,860 — Preachers This Year:
2,929; Last Year: 2,758; Increase: 171.
1837
This decrease in the number of Church members has already been accounted
for, and, as might be supposed, the fact led to “great searchings of
heart” among those who felt as they ought for the prosperity of the Church,
and to an application of those means which were necessary for a revival of
the work of God.
Among the means used for the revival and spread of the work of God, was that
of adding strength to the missionary work.
We have already seen that efforts had been made to establish missions in
South America. On the 22d of March, 1836, the Rev. Justin Spaulding, of the
New England conference, sailed from the port of New York for Rio de Janeiro,
the capital of the Brazilian empire. This magnificent city contains many
residents from different parts of Europe and the United States, and being a
place of considerable trade, a number of English and American sailors are
constantly in the port. By these foreigners brother Spaulding was
affectionately received, and the letters received from him, after his
arrival, gave us reason to hope for a favorable issue of his labors.
Since the change in the political affairs of the country, though the Roman
Catholic religion is still the religion of the empire, and is supported by
the law of the land, a much more liberal spirit prevails among the higher
orders of society, and their confidence in the infallibility of the
priesthood, and those superstitions by which that church is distinguished,
is much weakened; it is, therefore, hoped that the time is not distant when
the “blindness which has happened” to that branch of the Christian church
shall be removed, and a way opened for a free and unrestrained promulgation
of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ in the empire of Brazil.
In the present state of things, however, brother Spaulding could have access
only to the English and American portion of the population. To as many of
these as would attend his meeting he preached in a private room, prepared
for the purpose, and he had the happiness of finding a few who were willing
to unite with him in his pious endeavors to spread Scriptural truth and
holiness among the people. He was much aided in this good work by
distributing among the people the holy Scriptures in the Portuguese
language, with which he was generously furnished gratuitously by the
American Bible Society. Indeed, he found the people, even the natives of the
country, eager to read the word of God in their own language,
notwithstanding the prejudices which had been excited against it by their
early education.
Such were the encouraging prospects before him, that on the recommendation
of brother Spaulding, an additional missionary, the Rev. Daniel P. Kidder,
of the Genesee conference, and a male and female teacher, were selected and
sent to this field of labor. They sailed from the port of Boston on the 12th
of November, 1837, and arrived in safety to their place of destination. They
immediately entered upon their work with a fair prospect of success; but the
school, though prosperous for a season, did not answer our expectations, and
was therefore abandoned in despair. Brother Kidder, after mastering the
Portuguese language, traveled extensively from one city and village to
another, distributing Bibles and tracts, and was generally received with
affection and treated with respect, though the civil regulations of the
country would not allow him to preach to the natives in their own language.
In Rio de Janeiro brother Spaulding had formed a small class, had
established a sabbath school, and he occasionally preached to the sailors on
board of the American vessels which were in the port. In this good work he
was much encouraged by Commodore Nicholson, the United States naval officer,
to whom he was favorably known as a minister of the gospel, and who gave
countenance to his efforts. Yet with all these labors and hopeful prospects,
Rio de Janeiro is a hard place for the gospel to operate upon, and has
yielded but little fruit of our labor. The strong prejudices of the Catholic
population, the indifference of most of those who call themselves
Protestants, and the want of full toleration for the exercise of religious
worship, present almost insuperable barriers in the way of planting the
seeds of divine truth in that rugged soil. It is hoped, however, that a
steady perseverance “in well doing” will eventually overcome opposition, and
that we shall yet see South America delivered from the shackles of Romanism,
and brought into the glorious “liberty of the sons of God.”
On the 14th of October, 1836, the Rev. John Dempster, of the Oneida
conference, sailed from New York, as a missionary for Buenos Ayres, the
capital of the Argentine republic, in South America. In this delightful
city, which takes its name (good air) from the salubrity of the climate,
there were supposed to be about five thousand foreigners, English, Scotch,
and Americans, to whom brother Dempster, on his arrival, made known the
objects of his visit. He was cordially received, and he soon opened his
mission under favorable auspices, by preaching to a large and attentive
congregation assembled in a room which he had hired for that purpose. His
preaching soon made a most favorable impression upon the minds of the
people, and his congregation increased to that degree, that he found it
necessary to enlarge his place of worship, and he was, the next year,
authorized by the board of managers to purchase a lot of ground, and proceed
to the erection of a house of worship, about fifteen hundred dollars being
subscribed by the people in Buenos Ayres, and ten thousand dollars more
appropriated by the managers, to meet the expenses.
These bright prospects were, however, soon eclipsed in some measure by a
rigid blockade established by the government of France, so that all ingress
and egress for foreign vessels, except ships of war belonging to neutral
nations, were prevented. This measure of seeking national redress for
supposed wrongs very soon brought much distress upon the people, cut off all
intercourse by merchantmen, and drove many of the foreign residents to seek
an asylum in Monte Video and other places, as might best suit their
convenience. But though brother Dempster, in consequence of these things,
was very reluctantly compelled to remit his endeavors to build a church, and
though his congregation was somewhat diminished in numbers, yet he
persevered in his work, acquired more and more of the public confidence, and
even succeeded in establishing a flourishing school. In this last work he
was aided by the arrival of a teacher, Mr. Hiram A. Wilson, a graduate of
the Wesleyan University, who was sent by the managers, in September of 1838.
He soon commenced a school in Buenos Ayres, and it has so prospered, that in
1840 another male and a female teacher were sent to aid him in this good
work. There is therefore every reason to believe that the issue of this
mission will be prosperous.
Among the most important missions on our list is Liberia, an account of
which, until the deaths of Cox and Wright, has already been given. In 1835
the Rev. John Seys of the Oneida conference, was appointed by Bishop Hedding
the superintendent of this mission. He entered upon this hazardous
enterprise with an enlightened zeal, and soon succeeded in establishing
preaching, and forming societies in nearly all the settlements in Liberia.
The next year he was joined by the Rev. J. B. Barton, of the Georgia
conference, and they strengthened each other’s hands in the work of the
Lord. Though a war commenced upon the colonists by one of the native chiefs,
which spread death in the colony, and sickness had deprived brother Seys of
a promising son, and prostrated himself wife, and brother Barton, for a
season, yet he and they persevered in faith and hope, and they reported for
the year 1836 three hundred and seventy-five members of the Church, and one
hundred and twenty-eight children in the schools.
We have already seen that there were in Liberia several colored local
preachers, most of whom had emigrated to that country for the purpose of
enjoying the blessings of civil and religious liberty in their
“fatherland.” These were called into the active service of the ministry, and
were eminently useful in building up the cause of God. One of them, brother
Williams, formerly lieutenant-governor of the colony, volunteered his
services to penetrate into the Congo country, for the purpose of
ascertaining the probability of establishing a mission and school in king
Boatswain’s dominions the king having manifested much friendship for the
colonists and the mission. He was kindly received, and obtained from this
friendly chief a promise of patronage and assistance. And though the good
design was not carried into effect immediately, on account of a war which
commenced about that time between the king and the Golah tribe yet the
attempt led to important results; for soon after brother Seys was waited
upon by a messenger from Boatswain, escorted by no less than two hundred
men, among whom were some of his principal generals, requesting that a
teacher might be speedily sent among them. After much prayer and
consultation, a young colonist of good education and deep piety, by the name
of Jacobs, was appointed for that station, at which the natives who had been
sent on this errand of mercy expressed great satisfaction and joy.
By means of these additional laborers, they enlarged the sphere of their
operations, established a new mission at Bushrod island, commenced a new
stone house for divine worship in Monrovia, and a manual labor school at
Millsburgh, called the Whiteplains Manual Labor school, both of which have
been since completed; the former is filled from one sabbath to another with
attentive hearers, and the latter is in successful operation, imparting the
blessings of education and religion to the rising generation.
In the month of September, 1836, brother Seys, with a view to recruit his
health, which had been much impaired by the corroding influence of the
climate, and his excessive labors, visited the United States, and traveled
extensively, holding missionary meetings, giving information to the people
respecting the state of things in Africa, and taking up collections in
behalf of the mission. This movement had a most happy effect in awakening a
spirit of prayer, of liberality, and of active exertions in the cause of
missions. In the following October he returned, taking in company with him,
as his colleagues in labor and suffering, the Rev. Squire Chase, of the
Oneida conference, and the Rev. George Brown, a colored local preacher of
piety and talents, who, upon his arrival in Liberia, entered the traveling
ministry, and has been very useful.
As the General Conference of 1836 had constituted the Liberia mission into a
mission annual conference, brother Seys, as its superintendent, had called
the preachers together, organized them into a conference, and nearly all the
colored local preachers had become its members, and were therefore not
considered in the character of traveling preachers. His gave a systematic
energy to their operations, which added much to their strength and
efficiency, and extended their influence more powerfully throughout the
colony.
As the members of the mission family, as well as the colonists, had
suffered, and were still suffering much for want of a competent physician,
the board adopted measures for furnishing them with one, and also with no
more female teachers. Accordingly, in the month of June of this year, Dr. S.
M. E. Goheen, a young physician of piety and talent, embarked in company
with the teachers for Liberia. They arrived in safety, and entered upon
their work with energy and success. Dr. Goheen has been eminently useful as
a physician, having succeeded admirably in checking and controlling the
disease of the country, which has proved fatal to so many white people, as
well as to many of the colonists, more especially soon after their landing
while undergoing their acclimation. The teachers also have so far filled
their stations to general acceptance, and they still continue their work for
the benefit of the children and youth of their own sex.
The mission was greatly owned of God this year. In nearly all the stations,
now employing no less than fifteen missionaries, white and colored, God
poured out his Spirit, so that there were added to the Methodist Episcopal
Church no less than one hundred and sixty members, twenty of whom were
natives. In addition to the above-mentioned missionaries, and the physician,
who aided the mission much by his active endeavors to promote the general
cause, there were seven school teachers, having charge of two hundred and
twenty-one pupils; and also three hundred children were taught in the
sabbath schools. A temperance society was formed, with auxiliaries, on the
pledge of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors as a beverage; and all
things seemed to be going on prosperously. Brother Chase, however, soon fell
sick of the African fever, and he was so prostrated as to abandon all hopes
of recovery there; accordingly he returned to the United States, where he
has since been restored to his usual health.
From this prosperous state of things in Liberia, the board of managers
determined, on the pressing representation of brother Seys, to establish a
classical school. A teacher, the Rev. J. Burton, a local preacher, and a
graduate of Allegheny College, was accordingly engaged, and funds
appropriated for erecting a suitable building, and furnishing the needful
books, apparatus, etc. A printer was also appointed, who was furnished with
a press and materials for printing, and brother Seys was authorized to issue
a semimonthly paper, to be called “Africa’s Luminary,” of which he was
appointed editor. In 1839 the academy went into operation; and the first
number of Africa’s Luminary was issued on the fifteenth of March, 1839. Both
its contents and mechanical execution reflect honor upon its editor and
printer.
An additional missionary was also sent out by the same expedition, the Rev.
W. Stocker. He did not, however, long survive. Soon after his arrival, he
was seized with the fever of the climate, and after lingering for a while,
alternately reviving and sinking, he finally fell asleep in Jesus, in the
hope of everlasting life.
In the same year the mission was destined to suffer another loss by the
death of one of its most devoted missionaries, the Rev. J. B. Barton. He had
labored for the benefit of Africa nearly four years, with great zeal and
usefulness, and, to all human appearance, had become so acclimated as to be
able to resist the inroads of the fever for many years. The year before his
death he visited the land of his birth, married him a pious wife, and
returned to Liberia with a view to devote the residue of his days to the
salvation of Africa; but not long after his return, his young wife, with her
infant child, was called to mourn over the sudden death of a pious and
devoted husband, in a strange and foreign land. As, however, he lived to the
Lord, so he died in the Lord, and is enjoying the reward of his sacrifices
and labors in the world of glory.
It had been the earnest desire of the board of managers and of the bishops,
that, in addition to supplying the colonists with the word and ordinances of
the gospel, the native population should not be neglected. Accordingly,
efforts had been made, hitherto with but little immediate success, to
penetrate into the interior, and call the attention of the native Africans
to the blessings of Christianity. Some few, who had occasionally mingled
with the colonists, and attended our places of worship, had tasted “that the
Lord is good,” and twenty of these had become members of the Church. Still,
however, but a feeble impression had been made upon the minds of the
“heathen round about,” and the efforts to reach them more effectually with
gospel truth were renewed with great ardor in 1838. At length, a building
was erected and a school opened in a place bordering on heathen territory,
called, in honor of the bishop who had interested himself much in behalf of
the Liberia mission, Heddington, for the special benefit of native children
and youth, and the charge of it was given to brother George Brown. Here he
commenced operations, uniting manual labor with mental training. God honored
the enterprise. In a short time the house was filled, and the divine Spirit
was poured out upon its inmates, and how between seventy and eighty have
professed a “knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins.”
There are now, 1840, employed in this interesting mission, fourteen
missionaries, six teachers, and one physician. In the several stations there
are seven hundred and twenty-eight Church members, and about four hundred
pupils in the several schools. The mission is, indeed, exerting a hallowing
influence upon almost the entire population of the colony, and gradually
extending its influence among the native Africans themselves. If, therefore,
no untoward circumstance shall supervene to interrupt its progress, but it
shall go on in its career of usefulness as it has been begun, and thus far
advanced, increasing in power and influence in a ratio already seen, who can
calculate the benefits it shall confer upon the benighted sons and daughters
of Africa! May God ever have it under his holy protection.
In the western parts of our country, new fields for missionary enterprise
were daily opening, for which the Missionary Society was affording supplies;
but as they differ nothing materially from ordinary new circuits, it is
considered inexpedient to swell this History in naming them more
particularly than to say, that they were the means of giving to these new
and destitute places increased facilities for securing gospel privileges,
and the surest means of temporal and spiritual prosperity.
The aboriginal missions, heretofore particularly noticed, were generally
prosperous, though some of them were still suffering from the removal of the
Indians to their new homes west of the Mississippi.
Thirty-two preachers had died during the past year; one hundred and
thirty-five located, one hundred were returned supernumerary, and two
hundred and fourteen superannuated; four had been expelled, and three had
withdrawn.
An effort had been made to ascertain the number of local preachers, and this
year I find the number returned on the Minutes to be 4,954. As, however, all
the conferences had not sent in their reports, the enumeration must have
been incomplete.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 570,123; Last Year: 564,974;
Increase: 5,149 — Colored This Year: 76,657; Last Year: 82,296; Decrease:
5,639 — Indians This Year: 2,695; Last Year: 2,833; Decrease: 138 — Total
This Year: 658,574; [6] Last Year: 653,032 — Increase: 5,542 — Preachers
This Year: 3,147; Last Year: 2,929; Increase: 218.
1838
The work of God in the conversion of souls, judging from accessions which
were made to the Church, was much more prosperous than it had been for the
two past years. Revivals were prevalent, and the spirit of missions and the
cause of education were advancing more and more.
In the northwestern part of the Illinois conference, efforts had been made
to introduce the gospel among the Winnebago, Sioux, and Crow Indians, with
some degree of success, and a few schools had been established for the
education of their children. This year they were more regularly supplied
with laborers, and with a better prospect of success, though the good work
by no means prospered as it had done among the other tribes for whose
salvation we had labored. But among the Potawattomies about one hundred were
added to the Church.
In the summer of l837 a spirited effort was made to establish missions in
the republic of Texas. This extensive and fertile country, first visited by
La Salle in 1685, lying south of the state of Arkansas and west of
Louisiana, formed a part of the Mexican republic, and contains not less than
193,000 square miles. Its climate is remarkably mild and healthy, the soil
rich and productive, bringing forth an abundance of cotton, sugar-cane,
corn, and other staples common to the southern states and to Mexico. Into
this fertile region many of the citizens of the United States had removed,
being invited by the beauty and fertility of the country, and the favorable
terms on which grants of land had been made to actual settlers by the
Mexican government. Hence large settlements had been formed along the Rio
Colorado and Rio Brasos, and some towns had become places of considerable
trade, and were fast rising into importance. The eastern part of Texas, more
especially, was settled principally by emigrants from the United States.
These, together with those Mexicans who took the liberty of thinking for
themselves, became very restless under the oppressive government of Mexico,
the intolerant spirit of which proscribed all religious sects except the
Roman Catholic, and otherwise exacted obedience to laws which pressed
heavily upon those who had been accustomed to breathe the free air, and to
enjoy the immunities of citizens of the United States. Hence an
insurrectionary movement commenced, which eventuated in the severance of the
union of Texas with Mexico, and the establishment of an independent
government. The battle of San Jacinto, in which the American arms triumphed
over the prowess of Santa Anna, the Mexican general, decided the fate of
Texas, and left the inhabitants at liberty to establish a government
according to their own choice; and they proceeded to frame one after the
model of the United States, in which civil and religious rights and
privileges were secured alike to all sects and parties. This opened the way
for the missionary of the cross to enter and proclaim salvation unto the
people.
Among those who removed into Texas, there were several members of our own
Church, some of whom were local preachers; and with a view to preserve their
piety, they assembled together for mutual edification and comfort, sending,
in the mean time, a loud and urgent call to their brethren in the United
States for help. The Missionary Society responded to this call, and accepted
of the services of the Rev. Dr. Ruter, a member of the Pittsburgh
conference, and president of the Allegheny College, who resigned his
presidency, and offered himself as a missionary for Texas. Accordingly, in
the summer of 1837, accompanied by two young preachers, Dr. Ruter entered
upon his work in this young republic. They found the people ripe for the
gospel. Though vice and ignorance of spiritual things prevailed to an
alarming extent, yet the missionaries were received with great respect and
affection, and they soon succeeded in forming circuits, and establishing
preaching in different parts of the country. In St. Augustine, Nacogdoches,
Houston, and Washington, they commenced building houses of worship, the
people subscribing liberally toward the expense, besides contributing about
$1000 toward the support of their preacher.
This promising state of things induced the proper authorities of the Church
to send the next year additional laborers into that fruitful field, and they
have been gradually increased until, at the last General Conference, the
Texas annual conference was organized, and they have now nineteen preachers,
and about one thousand Church members, nearly as many as there were in the
United States at the first conference in 1773.
Soon after the arrival of Dr. Ruter in Texas, he adopted measures, being
encouraged by the liberal offers of the government and the people, for
establishing a college. And though he did not live to realize the object of
his wishes in this respect, being cut off in the midst of his usefulness,
yet the enterprise has been prosecuted by his successors in the work, and
the college has been erected and gone into operation tinder the most
favorable circumstances. The government appropriated eight thousand eight
hundred and eighty-three acres of land for its endowment, granted a liberal
charter, and “Rutersville,” the name of the township in which the college is
located, commemorates the talents and zeal with which its founder prosecuted
the noble enterprise, and the veneration which is felt for his memory by his
survivors. It is pleasantly situated, in a healthy and delightful part of
the country, and promises much usefulness to the rising population of that
growing republic.
This, therefore, is a most promising field of missionary labor, giving sure
indications of an ample harvest of souls to its enterprising cultivators.
The constant influx of Germans into our country, especially into some of the
cities and villages of the west, suggested the necessity of establishing
missions for their special benefit. Accordingly, in 1836, a mission was
commenced in Cincinnati, and it was given in charge of the Rev. William
Nast, a young German preacher of sound education and deep piety, who could
preach and write both in the German and English languages. He entered upon
his work with an enlightened zeal, and was successful in making good and
lasting impressions upon the minds and hearts of many of his countrymen. The
work has gone on steadily from that day to this, spreading in various
directions in the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, in Wheeling, Pittsburgh,
and a number of other places, so that there are now 1840) six German
missionaries employed, and there are on the several circuits upward of four
hundred members of the Church.
These missions have been much aided by the American Bible and Tract
Societies, which have made liberal donations of German Bibles and tracts for
gratuitous distribution among the people.
In the city of New York a mission was commenced this year for the benefit of
the French population who were resident here. A young Frenchman by the name
of Williamson had recently been made a partaker of pardoning mercy, had
become a member of our Church, and be felt a great concern of mind for the
salvation of his countrymen, many of whom were “as sheep without a
shepherd.” There had, indeed, been a society of French people attached to
our Church in the city of New York for a number of years, the germ of which
was imported here from the island of Guernsey, where our British brethren
had labored with success for a series of years.
Mr. Williamson hired a room for preaching, and has continued his labors with
diligence to the present time; but such are the prejudices of the greater
proportion of the French population, that his congregation has been but
small, and the prospects of success are rather gloomy. A few, however, have
been brought from darkness to light, who, it is hoped, may “be faithful
until death.”
These, together with the constant enlargement of our work in the new
countries, and the more vigorous action generally throughout our borders,
gave us an increase to our membership this year of upward of forty thousand.
The Georgia conference, stimulated by the example of their brethren in other
places, had made, and were now making, spirited and successful efforts in
the cause of education. In 1835 they had commenced a classical and manual
labor school in Covington, Ga., which was soon in successful operation,
exerting an enlightening and hallowing influence upon the youth intrusted to
its tuition and care. A literary institution was also established for the
education of females, which bids fair to confer substantial blessings upon
that class of the population. In 1836 the Emory College was founded, and it
has since gone into operation under the presidency of the Rev. Ignatius A.
Few, whose classical learning and deep piety eminently qualify him for his
station. These institutions are gathering around them the youth of the
country, of both sexes, and prove the’ capabilities of our people to educate
their own sons and daughters, provided suitable mean are used to call them
into action.
Ninety-eight preachers were located this year, six expelled, two had
withdrawn, one hundred and six returned supernumerary, two hundred and
sixteen superannuated, and seventeen had died.
We have already seen that the Texas mission was placed under the
superintendence of Dr. Martin Ruter. Here he ended his days. He commenced
his itinerant career in the early days of Methodism in New England, when he
was only sixteen years of age, and was admitted on trial in the New York
conference in 1801. In 1804 he went as a missionary to Montreal, in Lower
Canada, where he gave great satisfaction to the people by the diligence and
ability with which he discharged his duties. Though young in the ministry,
he evinced a thorough acquaintance with the truths of the gospel, having
applied himself with great assiduity to study, and particularly to the study
of the Bible.
After filling some of the most important stations in the bounds of the New
England conference, after that conference was formed, when a branch of the
Book Concern was established in Cincinnati, in 1820, brother Ruter was
appointed by the General Conference to the charge of that institution. In
this station he continued, by a re-election in 1824, eight years,
discharging its duties with great fidelity.
Before the expiration of his term as book agent, he was elected president of
the Augusta College, and entered upon its duties in 1828, where he continued
for about four years, when, on resigning his office, he was transferred to
the Pittsburgh conference. Soon after his transfer he was called to preside
over the Allegheny College, an institution which he was chiefly instrumental
in establishing and putting into successful operation. This office he filled
for about three years, when he resigned his station for the purpose of
embarking in the more laborious and hazardous enterprise of carrying the
gospel and establishing Methodism in the republic of Texas. He entered upon
his work in the month of October, 1837, and soon laid plans for
systematizing the labor and enlarging the boundaries of that extensive
vineyard of the Lord, so is to comprehend as much as practicable within the
several circuits which were formed by him and his colleagues in the
missionary work.
Not content with the simple routine of labor appertaining to a Methodist
preacher, being encouraged by the leading men of the republic, he devised a
plan for establishing a college and other seminaries of learning; for he was
always an ardent friend of literature and science. In these various labors
he was incessantly engaged from the time he entered Texas until sickness
compelled him to desist. His sufferings were somewhat protracted and severe.
He bore them, however, with patience and submission to the divine will, and
finally ended his days upon earth in peace, and the hope of eternal life.
Dr. Ruter deserves great credit for his attainments in literature and
science. Born in humble circumstances, receiving nothing more than a common
school education, and then entering the itinerancy at the early age of
sixteen — an example not to be imitated if it can be consistently avoided-he
was deprived of those literary advantages in his youth, which are generally
considered essential to eminence it a more mature time of life. Yet he
surmounted the difficulties of his situation, and astonished both himself
and his friends by his literary and scientific attainments. To the study of
the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, as well as the French, he applied
himself with successful diligence, and gave evidence of how much may be
accomplished by a constant application of our powers, and an assiduous
improvement of our time and opportunities, even in the midst of discouraging
obstacles, and the want of the most appropriate means of instruction.
It is not, indeed, pretended that his mind was of the first order. For
strength of intellectual powers, and for depth and variety of learning, many
others stood far in advance of Dr. Ruter. But, possessed of a good
understanding, and being impelled by an ardent thirst for knowledge, he
“sowed beside all waters,” and in due time reaped a plentiful harvest. It
would, indeed, be a reflection upon the discernment of those who awarded to
him the honors of a college twice, by conferring first the degree of A. M.,
and secondly of B. D., to suppose that his literary and theological
attainments were not respectable, and his deportment irreproachable Equally
strong in his favor is the fact of his having been elected to the presidency
of the Augusta and Allegheny Colleges, and of their having prospered tinder
his oversight though it may be admitted that in these stations he did not
shine with a brilliancy equal to general expectation.
Divine grace had done much for him. Having been made a partaker of
justification by faith in Jesus Christ in the days of his youth, and having
entered upon the duties of an itinerant minister ere he had attained
maturity of age and experience, he won for himself, by the blessing of God
on his exertions, the character of a faithful servant of God, living and
dying in the confidence and affection of his brethren. As a preacher of
righteousness he was “in doctrine uncorrupt,” “in labors abundant,” and in
success considerable. His forsaking the inviting fields of literature and
science, in which he had moved with so much ease to himself and satisfaction
to his friends, to encounter the hardships and privations of a missionary of
the cross in the wilds of Texas, evinces at once the strength of his faith,
and of his sincere devotion to the cause of Christ. He was now about
fifty-two years of age, was surrounded with domestic comforts, lived in the
midst of his friends, and might therefore have spent the remainder of his
days in comparative ease and comfort; but the wants of the sons and
daughters of Texas came up before him, accompanied with those impressive
motives which, to a heart like his, were irresistible; and he obeyed the
call and ran to the rescue of those who were ready to “perish for lack of
knowledge.” He went; and before he fell, he had established a reputation
among the people of Texas as imperishable as the town of “Rutersville,”
which name was designed to perpetuate the memory of the man who sacrificed
his life for their salvation.
Others might be mentioned, no less eminent for their Christian virtues and
ministerial usefulness, “whose praise is in all the Churches” where they
were known and their worth duly appreciated. But their “record is on
high,” and their reward is with their God, in the midst of those who “turned
many to righteousness. Such were John A. Waterman, of the Pittsburgh
conference, and Robert L. Kennon, of the Alabama conference, who, by their
early piety and great assiduity in their calling, rose to eminence among
their brethren, and died equally honored and lamented. Andrew Hemphill also,
of Irish extraction, gave evidence of that unreserved devotion to God which
distinguished most of the early Methodist preachers, and who, for about
thirty-five years, maintained the purity and dignity of the Christian
ministry.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 615,212; Last Year: 575,077;
Increase: 40,135 — Colored This Year: 79,236; Last Year: 76,240; Increase:
2,996 — Indians This Year: 2,101; Last Year: 2,695; Decrease: 594 — Local
Preachers This Year: 5,792; Last Year: 4,954; Increase: 838 — Traveling
Preachers This Year: 3,332; Last Year: 3,147; Increase: 185 — Total This
Year: 705,673; Last Year: 662,113 — Increase: 43,560
1839
The general interests of the Church were this year promoted by the
simultaneous and energetic action of the different branches of
ecclesiastical regulations, all of which were brought to bear upon the
understandings and hearts of the people under our influence. But the most
important accession which was made to the work was the reinforcement sent to
the Oregon mission. After the arrival of the last-mentioned family, and
holding a general consultation, it was finally agreed that brother Jason Lee
should return to the United States, with a view to strengthen the mission by
procuring the aid of additional missionaries, farmers, mechanics, etc. Being
remote from all civilized society, except the small settlement at
Williamette, and the members of the Hudson Bay Company at Fort Vancouver, it
seemed essential to the prosperity of the mission, that it should be
furnished with means to itself with food, buildings, and all necessary
apparatus for carrying on farming, and the needful mechanic arts.
Accordingly, arrangements were made for sending an additional family; and,
on the 9th of October of this year, a company, consisting of fifty persons,
including six missionaries, with their wives and children, a physician, wife
and child, a missionary steward, wife and two children, two farmers, wives
and children, two carpenters, a cabinet-maker, and a blacksmith, their wives
and children, together with five female teachers, sailed from the port of
New York for the Oregon territory, by way of the Sandwich islands. They all
arrived in safety, after a voyage of about ten months.
But, what was most cheering to the friends of missions, before the arrival
of this company a most glorious work of religion had commenced among the
Indians of Oregon, which terminated in the conversion of not less than one
thousand of these degraded natives to the Christian faith. A reformation so
sudden, deep, and wide, among such a people, had not been known in modern
days, and it tended mightily to revive the missionary spirit among us, which
had, indeed, begun to languish in many places.
A short account of the manner in which this marvelous work commenced and
spread among the people will naturally be expected.
It had been adopted as a maxim from the beginning of our Indian missions,
that Christianity must precede civilization. Hence our missionaries among
the aborigines of our country were always instructed, first of all, to
preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to them with all simplicity and plainness.
This was especially charged upon the missionaries who went to Oregon. And
though the circumstances with which they found themselves surrounded
compelled the Lees to attend so much to secular things as to engross most of
their time for the first year, so that they could give but a very small
portion of their attention to religious instruction, yet, on the arrival of
additional laborers, they applied themselves to the work with great
assiduity, and soon saw the fruit of their labors in the conversion and
salvation of souls.
The manner in which this work commenced evinces the truth of our remark,
namely, that the Indians must be reformed in heart and life by the gospel of
Jesus Christ, before we can hope to reclaim them from barbarism to the
practice and blessings of civilized life. How could it be otherwise?
Ministers of the gospel are not sent primarily to teach human science, or to
train people in domestic and political economy. Their message is of a
different character. It is to inform the understanding and reform the heart
and life, by the application of divine truth to the conscience and to the
judgment. When this reformation is effected, the rest follows as a
consequence. Their minds become flexible, their hearts tender, and they nay
then easily be led on to perceive and to appreciate the blessings of civil
and domestic economy, and finally to attend to farming and mechanical
pursuits. The experience of more than twenty years, among a variety of
Indian tribes, has demonstrated the truth of these remarks.
So it was in Oregon in the present revival. The missionaries became
convinced that they must be more holy in order to be more useful. That they
might become so they set apart seasons for prayer and mutual edification.
First one Indian and then another, beholding the fervency and frequency of
their devotions, requested to be instructed in the nature of these things.
Their request was granted. Convictions followed in the same manner, attended
with the same circumstances of spiritual distress, and earnest prayer for
deliverance, as are seen among civilized people who are impressed with
gospel truth. When one and then another were delivered, their joyful hearts
led them to say to their heathen brethren, “Come and hear, and I will
declare what God hath done for my soul.” Their words, uttered from the
fulness of their hearts, took effect: others were brought under conviction
for sin, sought by faith and prayer, and found “redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”
In this way the work begun, and in this way it went on and spread, and is
still spreading, so that, as before said, not less than one thousand of
these people have been “brought from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan to God.” And by the use of the same means we have no doubt that it
will continue its saving and hallowing influence until all the hills and
valleys of Oregon shall echo with the songs of redeeming love.
The other missions upon our western frontiers were this year prosecuted with
vigor and perseverance, and with various degrees of success.
Another occurrence of this year exerted very general interest, and was
attended with many blessings: — I allude to the Centenary of Methodism. As
the first Methodist society was formed in London in the month of November,
1739, so 1839 became properly the one hundredth year of Methodism.
Accordingly, our brethren in Europe and America prepared to celebrate the
event with all due solemnity and religious fervor. The 25th of November was
fixed upon as the day for this religious celebration. That it might be made
a season of spiritual improvement, and at the same time yield an increase of
means for extending the work of God on every hand, it was determined to
blend together, as far as might be, religious exercises and the making
collections for missionary and educational purposes, and for the support of
the worn-out preachers, and the widows, children and orphans of preachers. A
very general pulsation was felt throughout the entire Methodist community in
favor of the celebration, and the several annual conferences adopted
measures for its observance on the day appointed. As nearly as can be
ascertained, the amount collected was divided as follows: About one half was
to be devoted for the benefit of superannuated preachers, the widows,
children, and orphans of preachers, two-tenths for the support of missions,
and the remainder for the promotion of education.
The manner in which the celebration was conducted had a hallowing influence
upon the Church generally, and tended very much to increase the spirit of
devotion, to give more enlarged views of the divine goodness in raising up
such a man as John Wesley, and in blessing the world with such a system as
Methodism. Sermons were preached, and addresses delivered in almost every
society throughout the connection, both on the 25th of November, the day on
which the foundation of Methodism was laid by forming the first class, and
on previous days for the purpose of taking up collections for the objects
specified. The exact amount subscribed I have not been able to ascertain,
but it must have been in the neighborhood of $600,000, though it is not
likely that the whole will be collected.
It was indeed a sublime spectacle to contemplate the assemblage of more than
one million of people, joined by perhaps three times that number of friends,
uniting to offer up thanksgiving to God for his boundless mercy to a lost
world, manifested in the gift of his Son! And as one of the many rivulets
which flow from that exhaustless fountain of eternal love ran through the
channel opened by Wesley, it seemed right and proper for his numerous sons
in the gospel to commemorate the day which gave the first impetus to this
flowing stream of grace and mercy. Some, indeed, affected to call it a
species of idolatry. But why is it any more an act of idolatry to praise God
for raising up, and blessing the world with such men as John Wesley, than it
is to praise him for any other blessings, whether temporal or spiritual? We
praise God for the heavens and the earth, with all their much and varied
productions. We praise him for the gospel, and all its attendant blessings.
Why should we not also praise and adore him for those human
instrumentalities by which the world has been enlightened and reformed? It
is indeed marvelous that many of those whose tender consciences will not
permit them to render honor to whom honor is due, do not scruple to defame
the character of those men, who, like John Wesley, have rendered the most
important services to mankind, merely because they have dissented from them
in opinion on some unimportant points!
Did we ascribe that glory to man which is due to God alone, and detract from
the merits of Jesus Christ by ascribing the glory of our salvation to human
wisdom and righteousness, we might well be accused of idolatry. But we do no
such thing. We honor John Wesley because God honored him, and because he, by
his preaching and his whole life, reflected the honor and glory of God on
his fellow-men.
By thus distinguishing between God and his servant, making the one dependent
on the other, and yet so connecting them that the servant cannot act and
move, nor bring any thing good to pass without the direction and aid of the
Master, we secure the glory which is due to God alone, while we permit his
servant to shine in those borrowed rays reflected upon him from the “Sun of
righteousness.”
Nor do we fear any thing from the pride of sect. It is not sectarianism
which mars the beauty of gospel holiness. A man may be as proud, as
vainglorious, and as much sectarian in his feelings, while pleading against
all sectarianism, as if he were the most bigoted sectarist in the universe.
All these things are mere accidents of the Christian character. They may or
may not exist injuriously. It depends altogether upon the state of the
heart. If the heart be humbled and purified by grace, by the energetic
working of the Holy Spirit, pride of all sorts is expelled, and love to
universal man takes its place. This alone is destructive of that
exceptionable sectarian spirit by which the religious bigot is actuated.
We humbly trust that this love was excited and diffused by this centennial
celebration. It gave us an opportunity of reviewing first principles, of
estimating anew the numberless blessings bestowed upon us as a people, of
praising God for the past, and of clustering together motives for future
trust and diligence.
Nor is it doubted but that the thank offerings which were poured out upon
the altar of God, from so many pure hearts, had a tendency to enkindle and
increase the gratitude of thousands of devoted souls, as well as to nourish
the spirit of pure benevolence and charity. With these views and feelings,
the event was commemorated, and so long as they are cherished, so long shall
we continue to bless God for giving to the world such a man as John Wesley.
The Indiana conference had taken measures for the establishment of a
literary institution within its bounds as early as 1837, by the appointment
of agents to solicit funds for its endowment, and for erecting suitable
buildings, etc. In 1838 it went into operation by the appointment of
professors, and receiving students. This year, the Indiana Asbury
University, as it was called, received its president and faculty, and has
taken its place and rank among the rising stars of literature and science,
which were appearing in our hemisphere, to enlighten the rising generation.
Two colleges had been commenced under the patronage of the Holston
conference, and were now in successful operation. And St. Charles College
was rising into being, under the patronage of the Missouri conference.
Besides the Emory College in the bounds of the Georgia conference, there
were under its auspices the Georgia Female College, the Georgia Conference
Manual Labor School, Collingwsorth Institute, and the Wesley Manual Labor
School, all of which are exerting an enlightening influence upon those
portions of the population for whose benefit they were especially
established. The Cokesbury Manual Labor School was founded by the South
Carolina conference, and was now beginning to shed its light upon the rising
population of that region of country.
The New Jersey conference also had succeeded in establishing two academies
within its bounds, one for male, and the other for female students. They
both promise usefulness. Two academics had been recently commenced in the
bounds of the New Hampshire conference, called the Newbury Seminary, and
South New Market Seminary.
From these facts it would appear that the Methodist Episcopal Church was
determined to redeem her character from the imputation thrown upon it from
time to time, not without some show of reason, that she was indifferent to
the cause of learning. If her liberality in collecting funds for the purpose
of endowing and sustaining her literary institutions shall be in proportion
to her zeal in founding and getting them into operation, she will deserve
the thanks of the community, and will confer untold blessings upon her sons
and daughters. Otherwise, however, these institutions will but linger out a
sickly existence, and perhaps perish for want of that nursing care which she
is abundantly able to afford them.
Ninety-eight preachers were this year returned on the Minutes supernumerary,
— two hundred and sixty-one superannuated, one hundred and ten located,
thirty-two had died, eight withdrawn, and six had been expelled.
Death had this year thinned our ranks, by taking away some of our oldest and
most useful ministers, without, at the same time, sparing some of the
younger class.
Among the most aged, and by no means the least able who had gone to their
reward, was Thomas Morrell, of the New Jersey conference. He was born in
November, 1747, and during the revolutionary war served in the continental
army in the capacity of a captain, under the command of Washington. In this
service his patriotism and courage were equally manifested, in encountering
the difficulties and sharing the dangers of that protracted struggle for our
national independence. In the battle on Long Island, which terminated so
disastrously to the continental troops, Captain Morrell fell under a severe
wound he received from the shot of the enemy, and was taken a prisoner. On
being exchanged, and recovering from his wound, be resumed his place in the
army, and continued to render important services to his country during the
remainder of the war. At its termination, however, like most of his
fellow-soldiers, through the poverty of his country, he was thrown upon his
own resources for a livelihood, but he succeeded in procuring a competency
for himself and family, and at his death bequeathed a valuable legacy to his
widow and orphan children.
In 1783, the year in which the war ended, and the independence of the United
States was acknowledged, Mr. Morrell was brought into the glorious liberty
of the children of God, through the instrumentality of the Rev. John
Haggerty, a Methodist preacher. In 1787 he was admitted into the traveling
ministry, and he soon gave evidence of those eminent talents which
distinguished him as an “able minister of the New Testament.”
On the death of Washington, in 1799, Mr. Morrell was one among the many who
paid their respects to that illustrious chief by preaching a funeral
discourse on the occasion. In this he gave vent to his own feelings of
veneration for the general who had led the armies of America to victory,
while he commemorated the virtues which adorned his character, and the
valorous deeds by which he achieved the liberty and independence of his
country.
After filling some of the most important stations, such as New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore, where he acquitted himself alike honorably to
himself and us fully to the people, in 1803, on account of physical
debility, he was compelled to restrict his ministerial labors; he
accordingly located, and settled in Elizabethtown, in the state of New
Jersey, where he continued to reside, respected and beloved, until his
death. Some years before his death, at the request of those brethren who
loved and honored him as a fellow-laborer who had once “borne the heat and
burden of the day,” he was readmitted into the Philadelphia conference in
the relation of a superannuated preacher, his income being amply sufficient
for his support without drawing upon the funds of the conference.
It is no small evidence of his uniform piety, of his integrity, and of his
talents as a preacher of righteousness, that the people of Elizabethtown
always heard him with pleasure and profit, and looked up to him as a
counselor in whose wisdom they reposed entire confidence. Here, therefore,
he continued his ministrations with edifying delight, and his sermons were
always characterized by accurate arrangement, by deep thought, and minute
analysis, bearing equally upon the understanding and affections of his
hearers. Equally removed from fanaticism on the one hand, and a cold,
lifeless formality on the other, his sermons partook neither of passionate
exclamations nor of dull metaphysical speculations, but of a happy mixture
of sound argument and moving appeals, addressed alternately to the judgment
and to the passions. Temperate in all things, and equally removed from
idleness and excessive labor, he preserved the vigor of his constitution to
a good old age, being, at the time of his death, ninety-one years old. Such
was the strength of his intellectual and physical powers, that he continued
to occupy the pulpit generally once every sabbath, until within about three
years of his death, when the feebleness of age obliged him to desist. To
this, however, he submitted with the same cheerful acquiescence which he had
exemplified in the more active duties of life. During three years of passive
submission to the divine will, he bore the marks of the mature Christian,
waiting patiently until his allotted time came, and finally glided
peacefully into the ocean of eternity, where he no doubt drinks from its
perennial waters with unceasing delight.
He was only partially known to the writer, and then mostly near the close of
his life. But he appeared to unite in himself those graces, and those moral
and intellectual qualities, which rendered him every way companionable,
fitted him for usefulness in the sphere in which he moved, and enabled him
to derive enjoyment from every lawful source, whether purely religious, or
from those creatures of God which are sanctified by the word of God and
prayer. His good common sense, sound understanding, fervent piety, and a
zeal characterized and guided by discretion, enabled him to meet in a
becoming manner the various exigencies of human life, and to dispose of the
subjects which came up for consideration in an intelligent and satisfactory
manner.
In the latter years of his life he delighted in reviewing past events, in
recounting incidents which had come under his own knowledge, and in
magnifying the grace of God in Christ Jesus as exemplified in his own
personal experience. In these social interviews there was “cheerfulness
without sadness,” and a due mixture of the gravity of the Christian minister
with the vivacity and buoyancy of a mind cheerful and happy in a
consciousness of its own innocence. These things, together with that spirit
of hospitality which was displayed under his roof rendered him an agreeable
and edifying companion in those social interviews which he enjoyed with his
friends. Indeed, it might he said of him that he was a cheerful old man,
cheerful without levity, and grave without sadness, giving a practical
illustration of the ministerial, social, and domestic virtues, worthy the
imitation of all. And joining a prudent economy with industry, neatness, and
plainness, he exhibited altogether the picture of an upright and perfect man
in his day and generation, equally distant from ostentatious show on the one
hand, and a vulgar meanness on the other. Whatever infirmities, therefore,
may have oppressed him, grace enabled him to bear them with becoming
patience, and the natural wanderings of an imperfect judgment were corrected
by “the wisdom which cometh from above,” while his involuntary
transgressions were atoned for by the same blood through which he was at
“first accepted in the Beloved.”
Samuel Merwin, of the New York conference, had also exchanged labor for rest
during the past year. He was a descendant of one of the New England
pilgrims, and was born in Durham, Connecticut, September 13, 1777. While
quite young his father and family removed and settled in New Durham, in the
state of New York, then a wilderness country. Like young Timothy, he was
taught, by his pious father and mother, the Holy Scriptures and to fear the
Lord from his youth, the good effects of which appeared in his after life.
His father’s house being the resort of Methodist preachers, who, in those
days, were penetrating every nook and comer in “search of the lost sheep of
the house of Israel,” when but a lad he became, through their
instrumentality, a subject of awakening and justifying grace, and was
received into the Church. The ardor of his love and fervency of his zeal
soon led him forth in prayer and exhortation, more especially in beseeching
the youth of his acquaintance “to be reconciled to God.” Giving satisfactory
evidence of his capacity and zeal in the cause of God, when about twenty
years of age he was, by the presiding elder, employed on a circuit. In the
year 1800 he was admitted on trial in the New York conference as an
itinerant preacher; and it is greatly to his credit to he able to say in
truth, that from that day to his death he never halted or turned aside from
his vocation as a traveling preacher in the Methodist connection.
Soon after he entered upon his itinerant career, namely, in the year 1803,
he was sent as a missionary to Lower Canada, and took his first station in
Quebec, a place almost wholly given to the idolatry of Roman Catholicism,
and where Protestantism had little more than a “name to live.” Such were the
discouraging circumstances attending this first effort to plant Methodism in
that strong-hold of iniquity, that brother Merwin continued his
ministrations only about six weeks, when he left for Montreal. During this
short stay, however, he made a favorable impression on some hearts, which
opened the way for future efforts with greater promise of success.
In Montreal he continued to preach, with great acceptance and some success,
the remainder of the year; when he was removed to the city of New York,
where he rendered himself respected and beloved for his devotion to the came
of Jesus Christ.
It is not compatible with this brief memoir to follow our beloved brother
through the various stations he filled from year to year, and from place to
place. His talents as a preacher, and his skill as a ruler, made it
expedient to give him some of the most commanding stations in the bounds of
the New England, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore conferences, to which
he was alternately removed, and stationed in Boston, Providence, New York,
Albany, Troy, Brooklyn, the Rhinebeck and New York districts, and in the
cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore. In all these places he so acquitted
himself as to leave the savor of a good name behind him.
For several years before his death he was much oppressed with bodily
infirmities. These were of such a character as often to threaten him with a
premature death, and hence deprived the Church, at times, of his valuable
services. A burning fever at one time, a paralysis at another, and constant
soreness in one or the other, and sometimes both of his legs, so severe as
almost to deprive him of their use, constituted a complication of diseases
which called forth the exercise of much patience to enable him to bear them
without murmuring. Yet such was his flaming zeal in the cause of God, that
even in the midst of these infirmities he persevered in his work with his
accustomed diligence, without any other abatement than what stern necessity
imposed upon him from actual prostration of physical strength. Ann perhaps
he may be included among the most punctual of our preachers — not only in
attending to every thing at the time, but also in scrupulously observing
every part of his duty as a preacher, both as a presiding and ruling elder
in the Church of God.
But the time at length came when he must resign up his stewardship to Him
from whom he had received it. It was no doubt a source of severe affliction
to him, as it was of grief to his friends, that, after having filled so many
important stations with so much distinction and success, a remonstrance was
made against his being stationed among them from a people who had formerly
profited by his labors; but it is a consolation to know that it originated
from a supposition that his bodily infirmities only disqualified him from
discharging his duties with success; and also that the people to whom he was
sent received him with open arms, and treated him with the tenderness and
respect which were due to his character. His last station was Rhinebeck, N.
Y., the residence of the late venerated Garrettson, and the scene of much of
his active labors. Here, during the second year of his labors, he sickened
and died. The last time he entered the pulpit he was assisted to the church,
being too feeble to sustain himself, when he delivered his last, solemn
message to the people of his charge.
After this he gradually sunk away into the arms of death, leaving behind him
a consoling testimony of his faith in Jesus Christ, and of his preparedness,
through the atoning merits, to meet his Judge and Redeemer. He left a widow,
with two daughters and four sons, to mourn their loss, one of whom is in the
itinerant ministry, and, it is hoped, may yet fill the vacuum occasioned by
the death of his lamented father.
There were many excellences which clustered around the character of our
beloved brother Merwin; and the high estimation in which he was held by the
Church may be inferred from the important stations which he filled, as
before enumerated. In the sacred Scriptures he was deeply read, and
familiarly acquainted with their contents. At an early period of his
ministry he adopted the method of consulting these records of our salvation
in consecutive order, and continued the practice so long as he was able,
reading two chapters, one in the Old and one in the New Testament, every
morning before breakfast. By this commendable practice the words of the Holy
Ghost were ever fresh in his memory, and hence his judgment was constantly
tinder the clear light of those luminous pages, and his sermons interlarded
with quotations in Scripture language. He did not, therefore, imitate the
injudicious practice of those who substitute “profane babblings,” or the
aphorisms of heathenism, for the words of inspiration, nor the dry
metaphysics of the schools of human philosophy for the lofty and energetic
language of inspired prophets and apostles.
As a preacher he was sometimes highly eloquent. His personal appearance was
commanding, his voice clear and musical, his enunciation full and distinct,
and with these qualifications; when fully inspired with his subject, he
commanded profound attention, while he poured forth, in accents strong and
persuasive, the streams of gospel truth with great power and effect. We
cannot say that his sermons were characterized by that systematic
arrangement and minute analysis, nor that profoundness of thought by which
some others have been distinguished; but there as generally a glow of warmth
which indicated a heart filled with the fire of divine love, and they were
then delivered with a pathos and fluency with which none but Samuel Merwin
could have delivered them under the same circumstances.
Sometimes, indeed, he failed. In this, however, he was by no means singular.
For who that has had any experience in public speaking, especially in
extemporaneous addresses, has not felt his mind at times barren, his
utterance almost choked, as if it were next to impossible to make either the
understanding, heart, or tongue play and perform its part? Whenever,
however, he felt these embarrassments, he generally had a method of helping
himself out of his difficulty by some innocent sally of wit, or by adverting
incidentally to a topic somewhat foreign to the one under immediate
consideration. At these times his ready wit betrayed him into eccentricities
which seemed to detract a little from the dignity of the pulpit, while it
relieved himself and his audience from an ennui [boredom — DVM] which they
mutually felt coming over them.
An instance of this sort occurred once while he was preaching a missionary
sermon in the Allen Street church, in the city of New York. Feeling somewhat
embarrassed in his mind, and perceiving that his congregation were inclining
to a listlessness of spirit, he suddenly paused, and, calling to a preacher
who was sitting in a slip in the body of the church, he said, “Brother
B____, you must come up here and help me, for I cannot get along with this
great subject.” The preacher replied, with the same freedom with which he
had been addressed, “It is in good hands — therefore go on and you will
conquer.” This innocent artifice brought him out of the whirling eddies into
which he had been carried, and, unfurling his sails, he gently glided off
upon the sea of gospel truth, much to the satisfaction of all present.
To those who heard him often there appeared a sameness in some parts of his
discourses, and more especially in his addresses, as if he had treasured up
in his memory a set of phrases which he considered peculiarly adapted to the
subject, and might therefore be often repeated, not only without weariness,
but with good effect. The lively and energetic manner, however, in which he
generally delivered himself, intermixed with sudden thoughts of inspiration,
and all poured forth from a full heart in strains of gospel truth and
persuasive eloquence, made ample amends for any defects arising from a
repetition of the same thoughts, and sent the hearer home pleased with the
speaker, and in love with his theme. I remember well that, when stationed in
the city of New York, in 1830, he was called upon to preach a sermon in the
Forsyth Street church, on the 4th of July, and a proposition to take up a
collection in favor of the American Colonization Society had been declined
by the trustees; — on this occasion brother Merwin, warming with his
subject, rising with the importance and grandeur of his theme, now soared
away into the regions of bold thought and vivid imagination, and then
melting into the tenderest strains of pathetic and impassioned eloquence,
his hearers were alternately raised with expanded and elevated views of
truth and duty, and overwhelmed with deep and softened emotions of joy,
love, and gratitude. Such, indeed, was the power which he exerted over his
audience, that he had them under complete command, and taking advantage of
this state of feeling, he suddenly turned from his subject, and asked,
“Shall we take a collection for the American Colonization Society?” The
appeal was irresistible. “Yes! yes!” responded from every part of the house,
and the trustees were compelled to reverse their own decision, and present
the plates to receive the free-will offerings of the people, whose hearts
had been made generous by the powerful appeals of the orator of the day. An
acquaintance of mine, not a member of the Church, who was present, came to
me and asked me to lend him a dollar; as he had no money with him, that he
might put it in the plate. All were filled with rapture, and the more
pleased for having an opportunity to let their alms accompany their prayers
and praises. The amount of the collection told the rest.
Brother Merwin was a great friend and powerful advocate of all our
institutions, such as missionary, Sunday school, and other charitable
societies; and, while filling the office of a presiding elder on the New
York district, exerted an effective influence in their favor by attending
their respective boards of management, and otherwise promoting their
benevolent objects. At their anniversaries he was often called to speak in
their behalf, and he pleaded their cause with most powerful effect, and was
always successful; by the playful manner in which he did it, in drawing
money from the pockets of the people in their support.
I remember on one occasion, at an anniversary of the Missionary Society
within the bounds of the Philadelphia conference, held in the city of
Philadelphia during the session of the General Conference of 1832, he
delivered an address, after two or three others had spoken, which
electrified the congregation by one of those sudden bursts of eloquence for
which he was famous, accompanied with a humorous allusion to the collection
which was about to be made, and which might have been more highly
appreciated had it been a little more grave. These sallies of wit, however,
suited him better than they would others of a different turn of mind,
because they seemed to come unsought, as the spontaneous effusions of a
heart overflowing with feelings of kindness and brotherly affection.
The manner in which he deported himself toward some of his younger and
less-informed brethren sometimes gave them offense. It had the appearance,
as they thought, of a cold and haughty reserve, as if he thought them
beneath his notice. A nearer approach, however, and a more intimate
acquaintance, removed the unfavorable impression, and let him into your
heart as a brother beloved. And to those who shared his confidence and won
his affection, he unfolded himself with the utmost freedom and familiarity,
making himself agreeable and edifying by humorous anecdotes and edifying
incidents, which he delighted to detail. Of these he possessed a fund, and
could easily make them contribute to the entertainment of a company by the
lively manner in which he recited them. Such, indeed, were his imitative
powers, that he could assume the voice and gestures, and mimic the tone and
accent of any person with whom he had been conversant; be grave or comical
to suit the nonce, or to give a true representation of the facts and
incidents he wished to rehearse. And though he might have indulged his
natural propensity too freely for his own and the good of others, yet he
succeeded to admiration in rendering vice odious, in making folly appear
ridiculous, and in exposing absurdity to its merited contempt; while at
other times he clothed the excellences of the Christian character in those
attractive charms which were calculated to with the affection of all who
beheld them with a believing and impartial mind.
He has left a large circle of friends and acquaintances behind in the
various places where he was stationed, who will no doubt readily recognize
these traits in the character of Samuel Merwin; the mention of whose name
revives those recollections of past days which the writer of this sketch
enjoyed in common with many others, in the society of the friend of his
youth, the companion of his riper years, and with whom he has often wept and
rejoiced during the vicissitudes of an acquaintance in the ministry of
nearly forty years. And this record is made with the more pleasure, because
during that time nothing worth naming ever occurred to interrupt or mar for
an hour a friendship begun in and cemented by Christian love, and kept up by
mutual exchanges of fraternal regard and ministerial labors and sympathies.
May this friendship be matured and perpetuated in heaven! So he it, O Lord,
for Christ’s sake!
“Death loves a shining mark.” This is poetry; and it may be true in its
application to many individuals, and the more true in the imagination of
those who mourn under the bereavement of near and valued friends; but we
have a more infallible authority for saying that “the wicked shall not live
out half their days.” The fact is, that death makes no distinction in its
victims in respect to age, rank, sex, merit or demerit. All — all are alike
exposed to his ravages, and must, therefore, sooner or later, yield, however
reluctantly, to his despotic sway.
But whatever may be the truth in this respect, death had hit a shining mark
during the past year by shooting his deadly weapon into the heart of Wilbur
Fisk, president of the Wesleyan University, and bishop elect of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.
He was born in Brattleboro, in the state of Vermont, August 31, 1792. His
juvenile days, after arriving at a suitable age, were spent at school, and
he soon evinced an aptitude of mind to learn, by the progress he made in his
elementary lessons of instruction. Though at the early age of twelve he gave
evidence of a pious heart, yet while at the preparatory school, in which he
was fitting for college, he gradually lost his serious impressions, and
mingled with other thoughtless youth in the gayeties and amusements of the
world. At the proper time he entered as a student in Burlington College,
Vermont; but that institution being closed for a season while the late war
was raging between this country and Great Britain, he was sent to Brown
University, in Providence, Rhode Island, where he graduated, with equal
honor to himself and satisfaction to his friends. He then commenced the
study of law, under the instruction of a distinguished attorney; but the
next year, 1816, he went to the city of Baltimore, and was employed as a
private tutor in the family of a gentleman in that city, continuing, in the
mean time, the study of the law. He was soon interrupted in these pursuits
by a violent attack of a pulmonary disease, which so prostrated his physical
powers that, under medical advice, he relinquished, for the time, all
thought of any profession which would require any unusual exercise of his
lungs.
Not being able to pursue his studies, nor to attend the duties of his
vocation as tutor, as soon as his slowly returning health would permit he
left Baltimore, and returned to the scenes of his early studies in
Burlington, Vermont. But here he relapsed into his former disease, which for
a while threatened his life. This sickness, however, by the mercy of God,
was made subservient to his spiritual salvation, by reviving in his mind
those religious impressions which had been effaced; and during a powerful
awakening then spreading in Lyndon, Vermont, he was made a partaker of
justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This great change
opened, not only new sources of enjoyment, but also new and enlarged
subjects of contemplation, and finally led him into a field of labor for
which he seemed designated by the divine Head of the Church. It was not
long, therefore, before he began to exercise his gifts as a minister of
Jesus Christ, and to give that evidence of his call to and qualification for
the work, that led, in 1818, to his admission on trial in the New England
conference. He commenced his itinerant labors among his own native hills in
Vermont, inhaling the pure atmosphere, drinking the wholesome water, and
enjoying the society of his Christian friends of his native state; in doing
which, though often preaching, he measurably regained his health, and
manifested great vigor of intellect and decision of character. From this
place he was removed to Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Suffering a partial relapse into his former complaint, as might have been
anticipated from his being confined in the station of Charlestown, at the
close of his work in that place, in 1820, he was compelled to take a
supernumerary relation. In 1823, however, he had so far recovered as to be
able to resume his itinerant career, in the office of presiding elder over
the Vermont district. Here, amidst the scenes of an itinerant life,
traversing the hills and valleys of his native state again, deriving
benefits from traveling constantly from place to place, and exercising his
lungs in preaching as his strength would permit, he gradually regained his
health, and was finally able to discharge the duties of his station with
efficiency and success, to the great satisfaction of both preachers and
people.
On the establishment of the Wilbraham Academy he was elected its principal,
and was therefore compelled to remit the more healthy exercise of a
traveling preacher; for the labor of superintending a school for the
education and training of youth, preparatory to their entrance either upon
the active duties of life; or as students into the higher seminaries of
learning. Here he began more especially to unfold those moral and
intellectual powers for which he was distinguished, and which he applied so
usefully to his fellow-men the remaining days of his life. In this
employment he continued, attending, in, the mean time, as a delegate, the
General Conference of 1824 and 1828, until he was transferred to the
presidency of the Wesleyan University, in 1831. Upon the duties of this
station he entered with great ardor and intelligence, and succeeded in
gaining for it a character which commanded the public confidence and
affection.
Partly for the benefit of his health, and partly for the benefit of the
university, in 1835 and 1836 he made the tour of Europe, an account of which
he afterward published in a large octavo volume. Its merits may be estimated
from the fact that it has run through several editions, has been read with
great avidity by all classes of people, and is highly appreciated by the
most intelligent portion of the community. While in Europe he was appointed,
by the General Conference of 1836, its delegate to the Wesleyan Methodist
Conference; which office he filled with. Honor to himself, and greatly to
the satisfaction of his brethren on both sides of the Atlantic. At the same
conference he was also elected a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church;
but on his return to the United States he declined accepting the
appointment, believing, in accordance with the views of many of his
brethren, that the interests of the university had a more imperative claim
upon his services, and that he could, therefore, more effectually promote
the cause of God here than in the other high office to which he had been
elected.
Very soon, however, the hopes of all were disappointed, in respect to his
further usefulness to the Church militant, by his sickness and death. The
pulmonary disease with which he had been afflicted, with less or more
severity, now for about nineteen years, began to make rapid inroads upon his
constitution, and he was compelled, in the winter of 1838, to remit his
active duties and take to his bed, which proved, alas! his dying bed. His
bodily sufferings were very severe and protracted. He bore them, however,
with patience and fortitude, making them subservient to his more perfect
ripeness for heavenly glory. His countenance, his words, and all his
actions, on the bed of death, bespoke a soul full of glory and of God; and
he left the most consoling evidence behind him of having finished his course
with joy, and of having entered at last into the everlasting kingdom of his
God.
Thus ended the days of Wilbur Fisk, D. D., and president of the Wesleyan
University. His name will long be held in grateful and affectionate
remembrance by those who had the happiness of his personal acquaintance, and
by those who were benefited by his ministry and instructions.
The following sketch of the character of Dr. Fisk is taken from a funeral
discourse which was delivered by the present writer, on the occasion of his
death, and which was published at the request of those who heard it. After
giving a short account of his life and death, the remarks which follow were
added: —
1. His learning, though, perhaps, not so deep and thorough as that of some
others, was nevertheless sound, various, and of the most useful
character. He graduated with honor to himself in the Brown University,
and was highly respected by his fellow-students and the faculty under
whom he studied. And such was his love of letters in subsequent life
that he held a distinguished rank among the literati of his country, and
filled with high reputation the stations he occupied at the head of
literary institutions.
2. His religious experience was deep and genuine. This was fully evinced by
the uniformity of his piety, the humility of his mind, and his ardent
devotion to the cause of his divine Master. It was this also which
created that inextinguishable thirst for the salvation f a lost world,
which led him forth as a preacher of the gospel of Christ, as a powerful
and fearless advocate of the cause of missions, temperance, and all
those institutions of benevolence which aim at human melioration, or
look to the universal spread of the gospel of the Son of God.
Though at an early period of his ministry he was called to preside over
Institutions of learning, which officially confined him to a more limited
sphere of action than that which was marked out by an itinerant ministry,
yet he by no means circumscribed his labors to these narrow limits, but as
opportunities presented, extended the sphere of his labors, in the pulpit
and on the platform, wherever and whenever, so far as his time and strength
would allow, calls were made for his services. And in these labors he was
eminently useful, and his service were highly appreciated by all lovers of
human improvement. He was therefore never “straitened in his own bowels,”
but stretched the line of his labors in every direction, making his voice to
be heard in favor of the cause of Christ, in all those diversities of
operations by which the present age is distinguished for the diffusion of
gospel light and love. In this work that fountain of divine grace which can
be opened in the human heart only by a deep and genuine experience of the
sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, gushed out in the purest streams
of the most charming eloquence, distilling “as the dew, as the small rain
upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.”
His efforts to do good were limited only by his means. On a certain occasion
he was heard to say, “As I have no children of my own to provide for, [7] I
feel it my duty to do all I can for the benefit of others.” Acting on this
principle, he devoted all his energies of soul and body to the best
interests of his fellow-men.
3. Though deeply interested in the cause of education, yet he considered it
only so far important as it was made subservient to the spiritual and
eternal welfare of men. Having suffered much in his religious enjoyments
while at the preparatory school and at college, on account of the irreligion
which prevailed at these institutions at the time he was there, he was, when
he came to feel the responsibility of his station, exceedingly solicitous to
see seminaries of learning established and conducted strictly according to
the principles of the gospel. Hence, when placed at the head of the
university, as well as while principal of the Wilbraham Academy, he exerted
all his powers to banish immorality and irreligion from their precincts, and
bring the influence of Christianity, in its experimental and practical
parts, to bear upon the students, and upon all concerned. And in this he
succeeded even beyond what might have been expected.
The holy influence which was collected around the Wesleyan University, by
the power of his precept and example, seconded as he was by his associates
and the official board, was extensively felt on the surrounding population,
and gave it a commanding character in the community, exempting it from these
exceptions which have frequently been made, with too much truth, against
literary institutions. The frequent revivals of religion, which were
witnessed among the students, furnished an evidence to its friends that a
college may be so conducted as to insure the blessings of God on its labors,
and tended powerfully to impress upon the minds of all, the spiritual as
well as literary benefit to be derived from placing their sons under the
wing of the Wesleyan University. I may say indeed, with confidence, that on
no department of God’s vineyard has his Spirit been poured out more
copiously, and the number of genuine converts been more numerous, in
proportion to the population, than in this nursery of learning and religion.
How much the labors and example of its venerated president contributed to
this happy result, those can testify who have borne witness to his assiduous
attention to these things. The wisdom and fidelity with which he inculcated
the truths of the gospel upon the minds of the students, and the fatherly
manner in which he led the inquiring soul to Jesus Christ for pardon and
salvation, and likewise rejoiced over the happy believer, attest the
interest which he took in the spiritual as well as literary welfare of those
intrusted to his care.
His invariable maxim was, that sanctified learning only can be useful to
mankind. And acting on this maxim, he diffused through every circle in which
he moved the hallowing influences of Christianity, exhibiting in his own
temper and spirit the superior excellence and claim it has upon the hearts
and homage of mankind.
4. His talents as a preacher of the gospel were of a high order. He entered
deeply and systematically into theological truth, and was thoroughly
Wesleyan in his views of the gospel, and the methods of diffusing its
blessings among mankind. Though never boisterous in his manner, but calm and
collected, he was energetic, plain, and pointed, and evinced that he spoke
from the fullness of his heart — a heart thoroughly imbued with the spirit
of his divine Master.
He was an original thinker. Though the field of theological truth has been
so frequently surveyed, that little seems to be left for us to do but to
follow on in the beaten track, yet it was evident that when Wilbur Fisk
“occupied that holy place, the pulpit,” he thought and arranged for himself,
and clothed his thoughts in language of his own selection, which, by its
appropriateness, expressed what he wished to communicate in words plain,
chaste, and classical. In him there was no ostentatious show of learning,
though it was evident to all who heard him, with attention, that he was no
stranger to literature and science.
His sermons were generally of a didactic character, and on this account
might have appeared to those who did not fully enter into his views, and
follow his chain of reasoning, somewhat dry and dull. His discourses,
however, were far from being dull and monotonous. Though much accustomed to
consecutive reasoning, to sustaining his propositions by logical deductions,
yet his intimate appeal was to the Holy Scriptures; and often his addresses
to the conscience were of that pungent character, and delivered with that
flow of eloquence which made the sinner tremble, while he saw swept away all
“his refuges of lies.” On one of these occasions, I remember to have heard
him in this city, in the Forsyth Street church, when, after I laving
substantiated the truth of his doctrine by apposite texts of Scripture, and
a close chain of reasoning, he suddenly turned upon his audience, and
commenced one of those eloquent and pathetic appeals, which poured upon them
like a resistless torrent, and bore them away upon the stream of truth
almost whether they would or not. A minister, sitting within the railing of
the altar, found himself unconsciously extending his arms to snatch the
sinner from his impending ruin, and to carry him to the Lord Jesus for
salvation.
His manner in the pulpit was solemn, graceful, and dignified; his
enunciation clear and impressive; and all his gesticulations corresponded to
the purity and importance of the cause in which he was engaged. Perhaps,
when unembarrassed, he came as near to the perfection of a Christian pulpit
orator, as any that can be found among the ministers of the sanctuary. He
never demeaned himself nor degraded the dignity of the place and the
subject, by descending to quirks and witty sayings to tickle the fancy of
the facetious, nor spoke with a view to produce a momentary effect, or to
elicit the shout of applause. To this disgraceful finesse, so unbecoming the
time, the place, the subject, and the end of preaching, Dr. Fisk never
stooped; but his air was solemn, his attitude grave, his words sober, his
arguments sound, and his entire object seemed to be to bring sinners to God,
and to build believers up in all holy living.
5. Dr. Fisk wielded a powerful pen. The few printed sermons he has left
behind him bespeak for him the sound divine, the able advocate of revealed
truth, and the fearless defender of experimental and practical religion.
In his controversial writings and who can avoid controversy — while he
manfully combated error and defended what he considered the truth in a style
of independence becoming the ambassador of Jesus Christ, he was respectful
and courteous toward his antagonists.
Though it may he admitted that in some instances he was careless in stating
his arguments, and not sufficiently guarded against the insidious attacks of
some with whom he was called to contend, yet the acuteness of his intellect
and the force of his genius were never more eminently displayed than in his
Calvinistic Controversy, and in his Address to the Members of the New
England Conference. He wrote, indeed, as one who believed what he put to
paper, breathing into his sentences the inspiration of truth and sincerity,
and pouring forth the streams of argument and illustration with that
earnestness and logical precision which cannot but enlighten and convince
the judgment.
Toward the close of his life he was engaged in a very delicate controversy,
in conducting which he sometimes suffered no little reproach. Though Dr.
Fisk was the last man who should have provoked reproachful language, yet he
bore it with that meekness and submission which become the Christian
minister, and finally testified on his dying bed, that, though he may have
erred in some of his expressions, he was fully confirmed in the truth of his
doctrines, as it was principle, not victory, for which he had contended.
We may therefore safely commend him as a writer for an example to others,
and his writings as worthy of being read and had in remembrance.
6. Instead of towering above his fellows by an exhibition of any one talent
of superior strength and brilliancy, in him were concentrated that cluster
of excellences which constituted a nicely balanced mind, admirably adapted
to the variety of calls which were made upon his time and abilities. This
concentration of excellences created that symmetry of character which so
beautifully displayed itself on all occasions, and so eminently fitted him
to move in the various circles of usefulness in which he was called to
exercise his gifts.
Though he may not have been so thoroughly versed as some others, who had
devoted themselves more exclusively to any one department of literature, in
metaphysics, in a knowledge of the languages, or in mathematical science yet
he was sufficiently acquainted with these branches of knowledge to enable
him to unravel the sophistry of error, to detect the fallacies of subtle
antagonists, and to state and defend the truth with clearness and precision.
With this well-balanced and well-disciplined mind, was combined that moral
worth of character which at all times commanded respect and inspired
confidence, and that fitted him for the various fields of usefulness in
which he was called to labor. And in the exercise of these gifts, it was
evident that he studied to be useful rather than great, though it is equally
manifest that his greatness of character resulted from the usefulness of his
life and labors.
7. But that which characterized Dr. Fisk among his fellows, and rendered
him so eminently useful, was the deep vein of evangelical piety which ran
through all his performances, and exerted a hallowing influence over his own
mind and the minds of others. This, as I have before remarked, blended
itself in his private studies, mingled in his social intercourse, graced and
sanctified all his public administrations, whether in the pulpit, on the
platform, or in the discharge of his duties as president of the university.
And though no stranger to the weapon of satire, which he wielded sometimes
with tremendous effect, yet it was manifest that the same hallowed end was
had in view in the use of this sharp and dangerous weapon, as when he dealt
in the more sober and dignified accents of direct truth and argument.
8. In his social intercourse he sweetly blended the meekness of the
Christian and the gravity of the minister with the urbanity of the gentleman
and the graces of the scholar. Though too conscientious and independent to
compromise the truth from deference to the opinions of others, yet he always
treated their judgment with becoming respect, and uttered his dissent with
that modesty and diffidence which indicated a sense of his fallibility and
sincere desire to know the right. To the common courtesies of life he was
never inattentive, well knowing that Christianity distinguishes her children
no less by the “gentleness” of their manners, and the delicate attentions to
the niceties of relative duties, than she does by the sternness of her
requirements in favor of purity of motive and conduct. He was therefore
equally removed from that vulgar rudeness which marks the clown, and that
disgusting familiarity which obtrudes itself, unasked and undesired, into
the privacies of others. In him were united the delicacies of refined life,
with the strong and unyielding principles of Christian integrity and
ministerial gravity.
9. Though inspired with that spirit of Catholicism which embraces all
denominations as constituting one Christian brotherhood, he was,
nevertheless, cordially attached from principle to the doctrine, discipline,
and usages of the Church to which he belonged, and of which he was such a
distinguished ornament. Wesley he venerated as the first man of his age, as
the greatest of modern reformers, as a sound divine, and as one of the most
evangelical, laborious, and successful ministers of Jesus Christ. He fully
believed that the doctrine and discipline of the Church Wesley was
instrumental in founding in America were orthodox and Scriptural, and
therefore admirably calculated to spread holiness and happiness through the
land. Hence he labored indefatigably to promulgate its doctrine, to
establish its government, and to extend its influence.
He loved the itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. No more
conclusive proof could he have given of this than he did, by adhering to it
“through good and evil report,” so long as the Church called him to labor in
that field; and when called by his brethren to a more restricted sphere of
action, his official duties by no means deprived him of the privilege he
prized so highly, of going forth as an itinerant minister in quest of the
“lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He who might have commanded thousands
of dollars, had he chosen to attach himself to another ministry, “chose
rather to suffer affliction” with these comparatively poor “people of
God,” “esteeming the reproach of Christ,” as borne by a Methodist itinerant,
“greater riches than the treasures” he might have secured to himself in
another department of ministerial labor. And though, after he accepted of
the presidency of the Wesleyan University, he had a most luring offer, so
far as pecuniary consideration was concerned, to take charge of another
literary institution, yet he declined the honor because he loved that which
bore the name of Wesley, from a hope that he could there more effectually
build up Wesleyan Methodism, by training its sons in the principles and
practice of that apostolic man, and because he had already pledged his best
endeavors to promote its literary and religious interests. While therefore
he gave the right hand of fellowship to ail, of every name, who “loved the
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity,” he manifested his preference for the
ministry and doctrines of his own Church, by cleaving to them to the end of
his life.
10. It remains only that we look at him as the head of the Wesleyan
University. Here he seemed to be the center of attraction to all connected
with the institution, whether as professors, directors, or as students. His
counsel was respected, his precepts observed, and his example considered
worthy of the imitation of all. He ruled more from the love and respect
which were felt and entertained for his character, than from a fear of his
frown, though the latter was dreaded in exact proportion to the esteem felt
for his exalted worth.
His inaugural address developed the principles on which the government of
the university would be conducted; and the paternal manner in which these
principles were practically in illustrated gave a character to the
institution which secured the affection and commanded the respect of all
interested in its prosperity; and perhaps no student ever left his Alma
Mater without being impressed with a deep sense of his obligations to its
president for the fatherly solicitude he had manifested in his literary,
intellectual, and religious welfare.
Placed thus at the head of an institution which must tell for good or in on
the destinies of so many immortal beings, he felt the responsibility of his
station, and acted in view of that day when he must render an “account of
his stewardship.” And such was the success with which he presided over the
literary and religious interests of those committed to his oversight, and
discharged the duties of the high trusts confided to him, that he inspired
the respect and confidence, not only of those immediately connected with the
university, but of the public at large, as well as those who held a kindred
relation to similar institutions.
Hence his death is considered a loss to the entire community. The impression
he was making upon the public mind generally was of the most favorable
character; and the lamentations made on hearing the news of his death, and
the tones of sympathy expressed by others than those connected with him in
church fellowship, show that the community generally felt a lively interest
in his welfare, and therefore sorrowed “most of all that they should see his
face no more.”
Finally, we may say, that “whatsoever things were lovely, pure, and of good
report,” in religion and morals, in learning and science, in spirit and
conduct, were, in an eminent degree, concentrated in him, and, sweetly and
harmoniously blending their united influence in his heart and life, gave a
symmetry, a finish and polish to his character, worthy of love and
admiration; and although as a human being he must have felt and exhibited
the common infirmities of our nature, yet, having been disciplined by
education, refined by grace, and improved by reading and extensive
observation, he may be safely held up as an exemplar for the imitation of
the Christian, and the minister of Jesus Christ, as well as those to whom
are committed the interests of the youth of our land.
There are two other names I wish to mention before I close this volume; one
because he was among the older class of Methodist preachers, and the other
because he ranked among the younger; and also because they were both worthy
of remembrance.
Smith Arnold was born in Middlebury, Conn., March 31, 1766, the year in
which Methodism commenced its leavening influence in the city of New York,
under the preaching of Embury, and the prayers of the few who accompanied
him to this country. After his marriage and subsequent settlement in
Herkimer county, N. Y., he was made a partaker of the grace of life, and
commenced his itinerant career by joining the New York conference in the
year 1800. The first year of his ministry he spent in the western part of
New York state, then a new country, but rapidly filling with inhabitants.
Here he had the happiness of seeing the blessed fruit of his labors in the
awakening and conversion of souls. For twenty-one years he continued his
efficient services in the itinerant field, often exposed to privations and
hardships in the new and poorer settlements of western New York, and as
often cheered by the manifestations of the power and goodness of God on his
sincere endeavors to advance the cause of Christ.
At the end of this term he found himself so worn down by excessive labor,
that he was obliged to take a supernumerary relation, and then a
superannuated, in which he continued until his death, which happened on the
16th of March, 1839. His end was peace and assurance for ever.
Brother Arnold was a man of great simplicity of manners, a Methodist
preacher of the old stamp, plain and pointed in his appeals to the
conscience, though sometimes eccentric in some of his movements and phrases.
His talents as a preacher were respectable, and he generally commanded the
confidence and affection of the people among whom he labored; and when his
death was announced, none doubted but that he had exchanged this for a
better world.
Who is exempt from the ravages of death? Among those who had been taken from
the walls of our Zion to the “Jerusalem which is above,” was John D. Bangs,
son of the Rev. John Bangs, of the New York conference. Young, vigorous,
pious, and amiable, he promised great usefulness to the Church, and much
satisfaction to his numerous friends, had God seen fit to spare his life,
and bless his endeavors.
He was born in the town of Kortwright, Delaware county, N. Y., May 7, 1813,
and at the early age of fourteen was converted to God, and became a member
of the Church. Growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and exhibiting a talent for preaching, he was duly authorized,
according to the usages of the Church, and went on a circuit in 1835. His
first labors were in a part of the country where his father and uncles were
born, in the state of Connecticut, and he soon gave evidence of that
devotion to the cause of God, and capacity to instruct others in the way of
salvation, which won for him the confidence and the affection of his seniors
in the ministry, and the people among whom he labored. Accordingly, in the
spring of 1836 he was admitted on trial in the New York conference, and
graduated in regular course to elder’s orders.
But his race was short, and his death sudden and unexpected. On the 15th of
July, 1838, his wife, with whom he had been united only about one year, but
whose amiable virtues fitted her for a useful companion in adversity or
prosperity, sickened and died. While attending at her grave, greatly
exhausted with watching and anxiety, he was seized with the same disease,
the scarlet fever, which had so recently deprived him of a beloved wife. Six
days only after her death he was called to resign up his breath to God who
gave it, and in whose praise it was employed while at his command. Thus, in
the twenty-sixth year of his age, this young minister of Jesus Christ bid
adieu to all earthly enjoyments, in sure and certain hope of everlasting
life; and while his dust reposes by the side of his wife’s, in the town of
Yonkers, their spirits are doubtless rejoicing together before the throne of
God in heaven.
John D. Bangs was characterized by deep humility, genuine piety, and
amiability of manners, as well as thirst for the salvation of souls, which
greatly endeared him to his friends and acquaintances, and made the pang of
separation the more severe in some respects, and the more joyful in others,
to his bereaved parents and circle of relatives.
Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 650,357; Last Year: 615,212;
Increase: 35,145 — Colored This Year: 89,197; Last Year: 79,236; Increase:
7,961 — Indians This Year: 2,249; Last Year: 2,101; Increase: 148 — Local
Preachers This Year: 5,856; Last Year: 5,792; Increase: 64 — Traveling
Preachers This Year: 3,557; Last Year: 3,332; Increase: 235 — Total This
Year: 749,216; Last Year: 705,673 — Increase: 43,553.
_________________________________________________________________
[6] This result, which is taken from the Minutes, is produced by adding the
number of traveling and local preachers to the private and official members,
a practice not hitherto pursued, but followed hereafter.
[7] Dr. Fisk, though married, died without issue.
_________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 15
The General Conference of 1840
This conference assembled in the city of Baltimore May 1, and was opened by
Bishop Roberts by reading a portion of the Holy Scriptures and prayer. John
A. Collins, of the Baltimore conference, was appointed secretary, and James
B. Houghtaling, of the Troy, and Thomas B. Sargent, of the Baltimore
conferences, assistant secretaries. The following is a list of the delegates
who were present: —
New York Conference: Nathan Bangs, C. W. Carpenter, Joshua Holdich Samuel
Luckey, Daniel Ostrander, Fitch Reed, Phineas Rice, Marvin Richardson, Peter
P. Sandford, Nicholas White.
New England Conference: Phineas Crandall, Jotham Horton, A. D. Merrill,
Joshua A. Merrill, Orange Scott, E. W. Stickney, Fred Upham.
Main Conference: Moses Hill, B. Jones, W. C. Larrabee, D. B. Randall,
Ezekiel Robinson.
New Hampshire Conference: John F. Adams, Charles D. Cahoon, Schuyler
Chamberlain, Jared Perkins, Elihu Scott, James Templeton.
Troy Conference: J. B. Houghtaling, Noah Levings, Sherman Minor, Truman
Seymour, Charles Sherman, Tobias Spicer.
Pittsburgh Conference: C. Cook, George S. Holmes, Robert Hopkins, Thomas M.
Hudson, J. G. Sansom.
Erie Conference: John C. Ayers, John Chandler, H. Kingsley, B. O. Plimpton,
David Preston.
Black River Conference: G. Baker, S. Chase, John Dempster, George Gary.
Oneida Conference: Elias Bowen, George Harman Zechariah Paddock, George
Peck, D. A. Shephard.
Michigan Conference: Henry Colclazer, E. H. Pilcher, A. Poe, John H. Power.
Genesee Conference: Asa Abel, Jonas Dodge, A. N. Filmore, Glezin Filmore, J.
Parker, Manley Tooker.
Ohio Conference: William B. Christie, S. Hamilton, L. L. Hamline, William H.
Raper, R. O. Spencer, John F. Wright, Jacob Young.
Missouri Conference: Andrew Munroe, Thomas Johnson.
Illinois Conference: P. Aker, Peter Cartwright, John Clarke, Hooper Crews,
J. T. Mitchell, S. H. Thompson.
Kentucky Conference: Henry B. Bascom, Thomas N. Ralston, Jonathan Stamper,
George W. Taylor, J. S. Tomlinson.
Indiana Conference: E. R. Ames, A. Eddy, C. W. Ruter, Allen Wiley, A. Wood.
Holson Conference: Samuel Patton.
Tennessee Conference: A. T. Driskill, John B. McFerrin, S. S. Moody, Robert
Paine, F. E. Pitts.
Arkansas Conference: John Harrell, John C. Parker.
Mississippi Conference: Benjamin M. Drake, William Winans.
Alabama Conference: E. Callaway, E. V. Ivert, William Murrah.
Georgia Conference: Ignatius A. Few, Samuel K. Hodges, William J. Parks,
Lovick Pearce.
South Carolina Conference: Charles Betts, Bond English, Hugh A. C. Walker,
William M. Wightman.
North Carolina Conference: Moses Brock, J. Jameson.
Virginia Conference: Thomas Crowder, John Early, William A. Smith.
Baltimore Conference: Samuel Brison, John A. Collins, J. A. Gere, John
Miller, S. G. Roszel, H. Slicer, N. Wilson.
Philadelphia Conference: Solomon Higgins, Joshua Lybrand, Levi Scott,
Matthew Sorin, Henry White.
New Jersey Conference: Manning Force, R. W. Petherbridge, C. Pitman, John S.
Porter, Isaac Wilmer.
This conference was favored with the presence of the Rev. Robert Newton, as
a representative from the Wesleyan Methodist conference, and the brethren
Joseph Stinson, president of the Canada conference, John and Egerton
Ryerson, members of said conference, John Harvard, chairman of the Lower
Canada district, and Matthew Richie, principal of the Upper Canada
Conference Academy.
These were severally introduced to the conference, and were recognized as
brethren beloved, and worthy representatives of Wesleyan Methodism, both in
Europe and British America.
Owing to the indisposition of Bishop Soule, who, in consequence thereof, was
not present until some days after the conference opened, the address of the
bishops was not presented until about a week after the conference commenced
its sessions. Though long, yet as it presents the particular views of the
episcopacy on several important points, the reader will, no doubt, be
pleased to have it preserved in this permanent form. It is as follows: —
“Address of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church to the General
Conference, held in Baltimore, May, 1840
“Dear Brethren, — The meeting of this solemn and constitutional body, just
at the opening of the second century of Wesleyan Methodism, is a peculiarly
appropriate occasion for reviewing the rise and progress of that great and
blessed revival of pure Christianity, which, commencing with the labors of
that eminent man of God, the Rev. John Wesley, has, during the last
centennial period, spread over large portions of our globe, conveying the
blessings of the gospel salvation to millions of the human race. It is
highly proper for us, at such a period, and under such circumstances, to
direct our careful attention to the measures and means which, under God,
have been accompanied with such auspicious results. It will appear, it is
presumed, upon such an examination, that human policy has had less to do in
the origin, progress, and final accomplishment of this great work, than in
any other important and extensive enterprise since the days of the apostles.
The rise, and progress, and ultimate success of Methodism are marked with
the special openings and interpositions of the providence of Almighty God.
And although we are a hundred years removed from that era of precious memory
when this great light first shone forth from Oxford, we look back through
every successive period of its advancement, deeply impressed with this
sentiment, ‘Not unto us, O Lord; not unto us, but unto thy name give
glory!’ We have stood still to see the salvation of God, or moved forward as
his providence opened the way.
“In the progress of this great work on both sides of the Atlantic many
instruments have been successfully employed, who would never have been
engaged in the enterprise had their selection depended merely on the wisdom
of men.
“In England, while a Wesley and Fletcher, with a few kindred spirits, were
wielding the mighty artillery of gospel truth, with all the panoply of
various and profound science and literature, made mighty by the arm of God
to the pulling down of the strongholds of error and infidelity, a
considerable number of unlettered men, taken from ordinary occupations, and
with no pretensions to any extraordinary human qualifications, with such
weapons as the Holy Spirit had supplied, were marching through the kingdom,
attacking the citadel of the heart, and bringing thousands into a happy
allegiance to the Captain of their salvation. The same order of things is
observable from the commencement till the present time. It has pleased God,
from time to time, to raise up men, in different parts of these States, who
were endued with extraordinary intellectual powers, and those powers
disciplined to sound argument by a thorough education. In these men the
Church has found able defenders of her doctrines and order; and although
some of them have fallen asleep, they still speak — while others, in the
order of Providence, have been raised up in their stead. Thus we have a host
of the venerable dead, united with a succession of living witnesses, and all
set for the defense of the gospel of Christ.
“But had only such distinguished instruments been employed in preaching the
gospel on this continent since the first Wesleyan missionaries crossed the
Atlantic, and commenced their labors in the colonies, what, in all human
probability, would have been the state of the church in these lands at the
present day?
“How many thousands and tens of thousands have been converted to God by the
instrumentality of the preaching of men who have never explored the regions
of science and literature-and who, having ’ fought their way through,’ are
now resting in Abraham’s bosom! And what living multitudes bear witness to
the efficiency of the same means, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, in
bringing them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God!
Indeed, if we carefully examine the history of the church, from the days of
the apostles to the present time, at what period of her progress shell we
find her amply supplied with ministers combining in themselves a profound
knowledge of science and literature, and genuine piety, and giving proof, by
the sanctity of their lives, and the fruits of their labors, that they were
truly called of God to the work of the ministry?
“The probability is, that one chief cause of the great deficiency of
evangelical ministers in the Church of Christ is the neglect of that solemn
command, ‘Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth more
laborers.’
“Our venerable Wesley was fully convinced that the supreme authority to
constitute and perpetuate the gospel ministry belonged only to the Author of
salvation; and that those who gave the Scriptural evidence of being moved by
the Holy Ghost to take upon them the work of the ministry were not to be
rejected on account of a supposed deficiency in human acquirements.
“This truly evangelical sentiment, so strikingly illustrated in the history
of the last century, should deeply impress us on the present occasion; and
we should continue to adhere to it as one of the first principles in that
system which is destined to evangelize the world. Our blessed Redeemer,
after he had settled the constitution of his kingdom among men, — after he
had accomplished the work of human redemption, — after he had risen from the
dead in confirmation of his divine commission and authority, — and in his
last interview with his disciples, just before his ascension into
heaven-said, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth; go ye
therefore and teach all nations.’ All the attending circumstances conspire
to render this one of the most solemn and important declarations ever made
to the world. It asserts the exclusive authority of Jesus Christ to select,
and commission, and send forth the ministers of his gospel; an authority
which, by right of office and government, he carried with him to the right
hand of the Father, to be possessed and exercised till the final issue of
his mediatorial kingdom. In strict conformity with this declaration of their
divine Master, the apostolic college claimed no right to constitute
ministers in succession; but sought, with earnest prayer and diligent
examination of spiritual gifts, connected with holiness of life and
usefulness in labor, whom God had called to this sacred employment; and in
this is involved, as we believe, the true doctrine of apostolic succession.
“Keeping steadily in view this fundamental principle in the constitution and
perpetuity of the Christian ministry, and in connection with it the unity of
the church of Christ, we, as your general superintendents, have thought it
proper to invite your deliberate attention to several subjects which, in our
opinion, have a special claim to your consideration-earnestly praying that
all things may be done, whether in word or deed, as in the immediate
presence of God, and with an eye single to his glory.
“To preserve and strengthen the unity and peace of that great and increasing
body of Christians and Christian ministers which you represent in this
General Conference, and to devise and adopt measures for the more extensive
and efficient promotion of the work of God in these lands and in foreign
countries, ale the primary and very important objects of the institution of
this body; and in these objects your counsel, your acts, and your prayers
should concentrate. The connection of Wesleyan Methodists in all parts of
the world should remain one united household, keeping the unity of the
Spirit in the bonds of peace. One in doctrine, and in all the essential
points of discipline, they should remain undivided in affection; and no
minor considerations, growing out of difference of country, civil
government, or other circumstances, should ever separate us, or interrupt
our Christian fellowship. Laborers together with our brethren in Europe, and
in the provinces, in the same vineyard of our common Lord, we should avail
ourselves of every favorable opportunity, and especially of the occasion of
the meeting of this body, to convey to them our Christian salutations, and
the expressions of our undiminished affection and esteem.
“Although it may be safely admitted that every system, except that which has
a just claim to inspiration, is capable of improvement, it is a wise and
prudent maxim, as well in ecclesiastical as in civil jurisprudence, that
principles and measures which have been long established and generally
successful in their operations, should be changed or modified with the
utmost caution. The history of communities sufficiently proves that
innovations upon such a settled order of things are very liable to result in
consequences unfavorable to the peace and well-being of society. This being
the case, no ordinary considerations should induce us to ‘remove the ancient
land-marks which our fathers have set up.’
“In a body so numerous as the Methodist connection, embracing twenty-eight
annual conferences, extended over these United States and territories, and
connected with different civil and domestic institutions, it is hardly
expected that all should see ‘eye to eye’ relative to the meaning and
administration of the discipline of the Church, or the fitness and
expediency of measures which may be adopted in conformity to such a state of
things.
“It has been the constant aim and united endeavor of your general
superintendents to preserve uniformity and harmony in these respects; and,
as far as practicable, prevent conflicting action in all the official bodies
in the Church. But, although we record, with unfeigned gratitude to the God
of all grace and consolation, the general peace, and harmony, and prosperity
of the body, since your last session, it becomes our painful duty to lay
before you some exceptions to this happy and prosperous condition.
“At the last session of the General Conference the subject of slavery and
its abolition was extensively discussed, and vigorous exertions made to
effect new legislation upon it. But, after a careful examination of the
whole ground, aided by the light of past experience, it was the solemn
conviction of the conference that the interests of religion would not be
advanced by any additional enactments in regard to it.
“In your pastoral address to the ministers and people, at your last session,
with great unanimity, and, as we believe, in the true spirit of the
ministers of the peaceful gospel of Christ, you solemnly advised the whole
body to abstain from all abolition movements, and from agitating the
exciting subject in the Church. This advice was in perfect agreement with
the individual as well as associated views of your superintendents. But had
we differed from you in opinion, in consideration of the age, wisdom,
experience, and official authority of the General Conference, we should have
felt ourselves under a solemn obligation to be governed by your counsel. We
have endeavored, both in our official administration, and in our private
intercourse with the preachers and members, to inculcate the sound policy
and Christian spirit of your pastoral address. And it affords us great
pleasure to be able to assure you, that our efforts in this respect have
been very generally approved, and your advice cordially received and
practically observed in a very large majority of the annual conferences, as
will more fully appear to you on the careful examination of the journals of
those bodies for the last four years. But we regret that we are compelled to
say, that in some of the northern and eastern conferences, in contravention
of your Christian and pastoral counsel, and of your best efforts to carry it
into effect, the subject has been agitated in such forms, and in such a
spirit, as to disturb the peace of the Church. This unhappy agitation has
not been confined to the annual conferences, but has been introduced into
quarterly conferences, and made the absorbing business of self-created
bodies in the bosom of our beloved Zion. The professed object of all these
operations is to free the Methodist Episcopal Church from the “great moral
evil of slavery,” and to secure to the enslaved the rights and privileges of
free citizens of these United States. How far the measures adopted, and the
manner of applying those measures, are calculated to accomplish such an
issue, even if it could be effected by any action of ecclesiastical bodies,
your united wisdom will enable you to judge.
“We cannot, however, but regard it as of unhappy tendency, that either
individual members, or official bodies in the Church, should employ terms
and pass resolutions of censure and condemnation on their brethren, and on
public officers and official bodies over whose actions they have no
legitimate jurisdiction. It requires un very extensive knowledge of human
nature to be convinced that if we would convert our fellow-men from the
error of their ways, we must address them, not in terms of crimination and
reproach, but in the milder language of respect, persuasion, and kindness.
“It is justly due to a number of the annual conferences in which a majority,
or a very respectable minority of the members are professedly abolitionists,
to say, that they occupy a very different ground and pursue a very different
course from those of their brethren who have adopted ultra principles and
measures in this unfortunate, and, we think unprofitable controversy. The
result of action had in such conferences on the resolution of the New
England conference, recommending a very important change in our general rule
on slavery, is satisfactory proof of this fact, and affords us strong and
increasing confidence that the unity and peace of the Church are not to be
materially affected by this exciting subject. Many of the preachers who were
favorably disposed to the cause of abolition, when they saw the extent to
which it was designed to carry these measures, and the inevitable
consequences of their prosecution, came to a pause, reflected, and declined
their cooperation. They clearly perceived that the success of the measures
would result in the division of the Church; and for such an event they were
not prepared. They have no disposition to criminate their brethren in the
south, who are unavoidably connected with the institution of slavery, or to
separate from them on that account. It is believed that men of ardent
temperament, whose zeal may have been somewhat in advance of their knowledge
and discretion, have made such advances in the abolition enterprise as to
produce a reaction. A few preachers and members, disappointed in their
expectations, and despairing of the success of their cause in the Methodist
Church, have withdrawn from our fellowship, and connected themselves with
associations more congenial with their views and feelings; and others, in
similar circumstances, may probably follow their example. But we rejoice in
believing that these secessions will be very limited, and that the great
body of Methodists in these states will continue, as they have been, one and
inseparable. The uniformity and st ability of our course should be such, as
to let all candid and thinking men see that the cause of secessions from us
is not a change of our doctrine or moral discipline — no imposition of new
terms of communion — no violation of covenant engagements on the part of the
Church. It is a matter worthy of particular notice, that these who have
departed from us do hot pre tend that any material change in our system,
with respect either to doctrine, discipline, or government, has taken place
since they voluntarily united themselves with us. And it is ardently to be
desired that no such innovation may be effected, as to furnish any just
ground for such a pretension.
“The experience of more than half a century, since the organization of our
ecclesiastical body, will afford us many important lights and landmarks,
pointing out what is the safest and most prudent policy to be pursued in our
onward course as regards African slavery in these States; and especially in
our own religious community. This very interesting period of our history is
distinguished by several characteristic features having a special claim to
our consideration at the present time, particularly in view of the unusual
excitement which now prevails on the subject, not only in the different
Christian churches, but also in the civil body. And, first, our general rule
on slavery, which forms a part of the constitution of the Church, has stood
from the beginning unchanged, as testamentary of our sentiments on the
principle of slavery and the slave trade. And in this we differ in no
respect from the sentiments of our venerable founder, or from those of the
wisest and most distinguished statesmen and civilians of our own, and other
enlightened and Christian countries. Secondly, In all the enactments of the
Church relating to slavery, a due and respectful regard has been had to the
laws of the states, never requiring emancipation in contravention of the
civil authority, or where the laws of the states would not allow the
liberated slave to enjoy his freedom. Thirdly, The simply holding or owning
slaves, without regard to circumstances, has at no period of the existence
of the Church subjected the master to excommunication. Fourthly, Rules have
been made from time to time, regulating the sale and purchase and holding of
slaves, with reference to the different laws of the states where slavery is
tolerated; which, upon the experience of the great difficulties of
administering them, and the unhappy consequences both to masters and
servants, have been as often changed or repealed. These important facts,
which form prominent features of our past history as a Church, may very
properly lead us to inquire for that course of action in future which may be
best calculated to preserve the peace and unity of the whole body, promote
the greatest happiness of the slave population, and advance generally, in
the slave-holding community of our country, the humane and hallowing
influence of our holy religion. We cannot withhold from you, at this
eventful period, the solemn conviction of our minds, that no new
ecclesiastical legislation on the subject of slavery at this time will have
a tendency to accomplish these most desirable objects. And we are fully
persuaded, that, as a body of Christian ministers, we shall accomplish the
greatest good by directing our individual and united efforts, in the spirit
of the first teachers of Christianity, to bring both master and servant
under the sanctifying influence of the principles of that gospel which
teaches the duties of every relation, and enforces the faithful discharge of
them by the strongest conceivable motives. Do we aim at the amelioration of
the condition of the slave? How can we so effectually accomplish this, in
our calling as ministers of the gospel of Christ, as by employing our whole
influence to bring both him and his master to a saving knowledge of the
grace of God, and to a practical observance of those relative duties so
clearly prescribed in the writings of the inspired apostles? Permit us to
add, that, although we enter not into the political contentions of the day,
neither interfere with civil legislation, nor with the administration of the
laws, we cannot but feel a deep interest in whatever affects the peace,
prosperity, and happiness of our beloved country. The union of these States,
the perpetuity of the bonds of our national confederation, the reciprocal
confidence of the different members of the great civil compact; in a word,
the well-being of the community of which we are members, should never cease
to he near our hearts, and for which we should offer up our sincere and most
ardent prayers to the almighty Ruler of the universe. But can we, as
ministers of the gospel, and servants of a Master ‘whose kingdom is not of
this world,’ promote these important objects in any way so truly and
permanently as by pursuing the course just pointed out? Can we, at this
eventful crisis, render a better service to our country than by laying aside
all interference with relations authorized and established by the civil
laws, and applying ourselves wholly and faithfully to what specially
appertains to our ‘high and holy calling;’ to teach and enforce the moral
obligations of the gospel, in application to all the duties growing out of
the different relations in society? By a diligent devotion to this
evangelical employment, with an humble and steadfast reliance upon the aid
of divine influence, the number of ‘believing masters’ and servants may be
constantly increased, the kindest sentiments and affections cultivated,
domestic burdens lightened, mutual confidence cherished, and the peace and
happiness of society be promoted. While on the other hand, if past history
affords us any correct rules of judgment, there is much cause to fear that
the influence of our sacred office, if employed in interfering with the
relation itself, and consequently with the civil institutions of the
country, will rather tend to prevent than to accomplish these desirable
ends.
“But while we sincerely and most affectionately, and, we humbly trust, in
the spirit of the gospel of Christ, recommend to you, and to all the
ministers and members you represent in the body, to pursue such a course in
regard to this deeply exciting subject, we think it proper to invite your
attention in particular to one point, intimately connected with it, and, as
we conceive, of primary importance. It is in regard to the true import and
application of the general rule on slavery. The different constructions to
which it has been subjected, and the variety of opinions entertained upon
it, together with the conflicting acts of some of the annual conferences of
the north and south, seem to require that a body, having legitimate
jurisdiction, should express a clear and definite opinion, as a uniform
guide to those to whom the administration of the discipline is committed.
Another subject of vital importance, as we apprehend, to the unity and peace
of the Church, and not unconnected with the foregoing, is the constitutional
powers of the general superintendents, in such relations to the annual
conferences, and in their general executive administration of the
government; and the rights of annual and quarterly conferences, in their
official capacities. In the prosecution of our superintending agency, we
have been compelled to differ in opinion from many of our brethren composing
these official bodies; and this difference of opinion, connected with a
conviction of our high responsibility, has, in a few cases, resulted in
action which has been judged, by those specially concerned, to be
high-handed, unconstitutional, tyrannical, and oppressive. In all such
cases, we have given the most unequivocal assurances that we should, with
unfeigned satisfaction and the kindest feelings, submit the whole matter in
controversy, with all our official acts in the premises, to the enlightened
deliberation and final judgment of this constitutional tribunal. And we
cannot but indulge the hope that those who have differed from us will
cordially abide the decision of such a judicatory, should it not accord with
their views. We have no disposition to enter into an extensive examination
of the merits of the case, which, we regret to say, has been a matter of
prolonged discussion in self-created conventions, and in some of the
religious periodicals of the day. But our object is to lay before you the
simple points involved, and leave the issue to be settled as your united
wisdom shall determine, requesting liberty, at the proper time, if occasion
should require, to correct erroneous statements, and remove improper
impressions, having reference to both course of action. In presenting this
subject to your consideration, it is due to a very large majority of all the
annual conferences, and to the members composing them, individually, to say
that the utmost harmony, and confidence, and affection exist between them
and the general superintendents. The geographical bounds of the controversy
are very limited.
The whole subject may be presented to you in the following simple questions:
When any business comes up for action in our annual or quarterly
conferences, involving a difficulty on a question of law, so as to produce
the inquiry, What is the law in the case? does the constitutional power to
decide the question belong to the president, or the conference? Have the
annual conferences a constitutional right to do any other business than what
is specifically prescribed, or, by fair construction, provided for in the
form of Discipline? Has the president of an annual conference, by virtue of
his office, a right to decline putting a motion or resolution to vote, on
business other than that thus prescribed or provided for?
“These questions are proposed with exclusive reference to the principle of
constitutional right. The principles of courtesy and expediency are very
different things.
“As far as we have been able to ascertain the views of those who entertain
opinions opposite to our own on these points, they may be summed up as
follows: —
“They maintain that all questions of law arising out of the business of our
annual or quarterly conferences are to be, of right, settled by the decision
of those bodies, either primarily by resolution, or finally by an appeal
from the decision of the president: ‘that it is the prerogative of an annual
conference to decide what business they will do, and when they will do
it:’ that they have a constitutional right ‘to discuss, in their official
capacity, all moral subjects:’ to investigate the official acts of other
annual conferences — of the General Conference, and of the general
superintendents, so far as to pass resolutions of disapprobation or approval
on those acts. They maintain that the president of an annual conference is
to be regarded in the same relation to the conference that a chairman or
speaker sustains to a civil legislative assembly: that it is his duty to
preserve order in the conference, to determine questions of order, subject
to appeal, and put to vote all motions and resolutions, when called for
according to the rules of the body: that these are the settled landmarks of
his official prerogatives, as president of the conference, beyond which he
has no right to go: that although it belongs to his office, as general
superintendent, to appoint the time for holding the several annual
conferences, he has no discretionary authority to adjourn them, whatever
length of time they may have continued their session, or whatever business
they may think proper to transact. From these doctrines we have felt it our
solemn duty to dissent. And we will not withhold from you our deliberate and
abiding conviction, that if they should be sustained by the General
Conference, the uniform and efficient administration of the government would
be rendered impracticable.
“The government of the Methodist Episcopal Church is peculiarly constructed.
It is widely different from our civil organization. The General Conference
is the only legislative body recognized in our ecclesiastical system, and
from it originates the authority of the entire executive administration. The
exclusive power to create annual conferences, and to increase or diminish
their number, rests with this body. No annual conference has authority or
right to make any rule of discipline for the Church, either within its own
bounds or elsewhere. No one has the power to elect its own president, except
in a special case, pointed out, and provided for, by the General Conference.
Whatever may be the number of the annual conferences, they are all organized
on the same plan, are all governed by the same laws, and all have
identically the same rights, powers, and privileges. These powers, and
rights, and privileges are not derived from themselves, but from the body
which originated them. And the book of Discipline, containing the rules of
the General Conference, is the only charter of their rights, and directory
of their duties, as official bodies. The general superintendents are elected
by the General Conference, and responsible to it for the discharge of the
duties of their office. They are constituted, by virtue of their office,
president of the annual conferences, with authority to appoint the time of
holding them; with a prudential provision that they shall allow each
conference to sit at least one week, that the important business prescribed
in the form of Discipline may not be hurried through in such a manner as to
affect injuriously the interests of the Church. The primary objects of their
official department in the Church were, as we believe, to preserve, in the
mot effectual manner, an itinerant ministry; to maintain a uniformity in the
administration of the government and discipline in every department, and
that the unity of the whole body might be preserved. But how, we would ask,
can these important ends be accomplished, if each annual conference
possesses the rights mid powers set forth in the foregoing summary? Is it to
be supposed, that twenty-eight constitutional judges of ecclesiastical law,
and these, too, not individuals of age and experience, who have had time and
means to thoroughly investigate, and analyze, and collate the system; but
official bodies, many members of which are young and inexperienced, and
without the opportunity or necessary helps for such researches, and without
consultation with each other on the points to be decided, will settle
different questions of law with such agreement as to have no material
conflict between their legal decisions. Is it not greatly to be feared,
that, with such a system of ecclesiastical jurisprudence, what might be law
in Georgia might be no law in New England? that what might be orthodoxy in
one conference might be heresy in another? Where, then, would be the
identity of the law, the uniformity of its administration, or the unity and
peace of the Church?
“A well-digested system of collegiate education, under the direction and
control of the General Conference, is, in our opinion, loudly called for by
the present state of the Church, and by our widely extended and extending
influence, as a religious denomination. Such a system is of such vast
importance, in connection with the general principles and designs of
Methodism, as to render the policy of submitting its direction and
superintendence to sectional control, to say the least, very doubtful. For
many years, the state of the Church was such in these States as to render it
impracticable to accomplish much in the cause of education, any further than
as we were associated with other bodies, or were connected with the
institutions of the country. And it is not to be denied that there existed
among us, to a considerable extent, even down to a recent date, strong
opposition to commencing this important enterprise among ourselves. But
during the last twenty years, the spirit of inquiry has been wakened up, and
a very general interest excited on this subject; and the energies and means
of our preachers and people have been employed to a very considerable extent
in the promotion of such a worthy and noble object. What appears to be
especially necessary at the present crisis is a well-organized system which
shall give the best direction to those energies and means. It will not be at
all surprising to men who have made themselves acquainted with the former
and present condition of the Methodist Church, relative to the promotion of
literature, that there should be at the present time a spirit of zeal and
enterprise in operation, which, if not guided by the soundest principles of
wisdom and policy, and concentrated in a general and harmonious system, may
fail to accomplish the desirable and important object, and ultimately result
in injurious reaction. This can hardly fail to be the case, if colleges, or
other high institutions of learning, which must depend upon other means of
support than the revenues arising from tuiition, are multiplied beyond the
available means necessary for their adequate and permanent endowment. And it
is to be feared that in this respect we are not entirely free from error and
danger. We scarcely need to say to this enlightened and experienced body of
ministers, many of whom are familiar with the polity and fiscal concerns of
literary institutions, that such of them as we have just named cannot be
considered in a safe and sound condition in regard to their efficiency and
perpetuity, until they realize a revenue from permanent endowment entirely
sufficient to support their faculties, leaving the fund arising from tuition
to meet contingent expenses. If this is a correct rule of calculation in
regard to the safety of collegiate institutions, it is very doubtful whether
any of our colleges or universities can be considered permanently secure. It
appears to us that the time has arrived for the General Conference to take
this subject into their deliberate consideration, and adopt such measures
as, in their wisdom, may the most effectually secure our colleges already in
operation from liability to failure, and guard against the erection of
others till sufficient available means are secured to place them on a firm
foundation. The circumstance that there are members of the faculties or
boards of trustees of nearly, if not quite all our colleges, present as
representatives in this body, is, in our opinion, peculiarly favorable to
such a design. We cannot too deeply impress upon your minds the importance
of preserving in our own power the direction and control of the system of
collegiate and theological education in the Church. Perhaps a more favorable
opportunity than your present session will seldom, if ever, occur, for
devising and adopting a judicious and uniform course of literary and moral
discipline in all the collegiate institutions under our superintendence. And
we will not withhold our solemn conviction, that any course of study in a
Methodist college or university would be essentially defective if it did not
embrace the Bible — the most ancient, the most learned, and the most
important book in the world. As a Christian community, all our institutions
of learning should be sanctuaries of theological science. Do we send our
sons to explore the regions of science and literature, merely, as did
idolatrous Greece and Rome, to prepare them for the senate, the forum, or
the field? Do we not rather desire that they may be qualified by mental and
moral improvement, to diffuse, in every circle of society in which they may
move, the influence of the enlightening, peaceful, and benevolent principles
of our holy religion? Do we intend them for professional life? In what
profession can they be employed in a Christian country in which the Bible is
not a most important text book? Are not the civil governments of Christendom
based upon it? Is it not the fountain of law, and the charter of rights?
When do you see the statesman, the judge, or the advocate, more clear,
convincing, authoritative, or sublime, than when he appeals to its
doctrines, morals, or sanctions? Do we desire our sons to practice the
healing art? Would we send them forth to mingle in scenes of wretchedness
and suffering without the knowledge of those divine truths taught by Him who
went about doing good, and healing all manner of diseases? In a word, we
cannot but believe that the doctrines, history, evidences, and morals of
revelation, should be regarded as forming one of the most important
departments in our system of collegiate education. We are aware that such a
feature in the course of study in our colleges would subject them to the too
common objection of being theological seminaries. This objection would
certainly come with more grace from the lips of infidels than from the
tongues or pens of professed believers in the divine authenticity of the
Christian revelation. While, in our opinion, the science of the word of God
should be a paramount branch of instruction in our literary institutions, we
desire not to be understood as recommending the establishment of
‘Theological Seminaries,’ in the common acceptation of the term; that is,
for the special purpose of educating men for the work of the gospel
ministry. We feel, with many enlightened Christians and able ministers, both
in our own and other religious denominations, the importance of an able and
efficient ministry. Nor are we unapprised of the great advantages of a
thorough education to those whose business it is to preach ‘Christ and him
crucified.’ But we are free to acknowledge that the policy of establishing
schools of divinity for the exclusive purpose of preparing young men for the
sacred office, as for a profession, is, in our opinion, to say the least, of
doubtful authority and expedience. The history of such institutions, from
their earliest establishment, admonishes us, that the speculators of human
science have but too frequently obscured and adulterated the doctrines of
the revelation of God; and that, in many cases, where they have been
commenced on evangelical ground, in their onward course they have wandered
into the wilderness of metaphysical disquisitions, or been lost in the still
darker regions of ‘rational Christianity.’ When the history, doctrines,
evidences, and duties of the revelation of God shall form a distinct and
primary department of study in our institutions of learning our children be
dedicated to God, and trained up in his knowledge and fear, and the whole
Church united in devout and fervent prayer that God would raise up, and send
forth into his vineyard, men of his own selection, and Scriptural proofs be
required of those who profess to be called to preach the gospel, it is
believed that human agency will have reached its legitimate bounds in the
premises, and that this great concern will be perfectly secure with the
supreme Head of the church, to whom alone belongs the authority to
perpetuate the ministry of his gospel to the end of the world. But should
this body differ from us with regard to the expediency of establishing
institutions for theological education separate from our literary
establishments, and for the exclusive purpose of preparing the students for
the work of the ministry, we cannot too strongly recommend to you the
propriety and importance of having the whole subject under the direction and
control of the General Conference. We are well persuaded that your wisdom
and experience will lead you to apprehend the great impropriety of sectional
institutions in the Church for such a purpose. To intrust a matter of such
vast moment to a self-organized association, or to an annual conference, or
“A regular and uniform course of study for the under graduates in the
ministry has, in our judgment, a special claim to your attention at your
present session. At a former session it was made the duty of the general
superintendents to point out a course of study for the candidates,
preparatory to their admission into full connection, with discretionary
privilege of appointing a committee for that purpose. By this rule, no
provision is made for a course of study for preachers, for the two years
previous to their induction to the office of elders. This has been thought
to be a defect in the system, and at the request of many of the annual
conferences, an advisory course has been prepared, embracing these two
years. The result, as far as we have knowledge, has been very advantageous
in the improvement of the ministry. And we recommend to the General
Conference to extend the course so as to embrace the whole period from the
time of admission on trial, until the full powers of the ministry are
conferred. The situation of the superintendents is such, in visiting all
parts of the work, extending over all the states and territories, as to
render it extremely difficult, and for the most part impracticable, without
great labor and expense, to meet for consultation with each other on this,
or any other, important interest of the church; and their duties are so
various and weighty as to incline them to the opinion, that the great object
contemplated in this provision would be better accomplished by a uniform
course of study prepared by this body, and published in our form of
Discipline. The local ministry is to be regarded as forming an important
department in our system. They are truly helpers in the work of the Lord. As
such we should always esteem them. And nothing should be neglected which has
a tendency to preserve and strengthen the bonds of affection and confidence
between them and the itinerant connection. Many of this useful class of
ministers have deeply felt the necessity of a regular system of study,
adapted, as far as practicable, to the condition and circumstances of local
preachers, embracing studies preparatory to their receiving license, and
extending to the time of their graduating to the office of elders. Many and
great advantages might doubtless be derived from such a course, judiciously
formed in adaptation to the circumstances of our local brethren, whose time
must necessarily be employed, to a greater or less extent, in secular
avocations. We recommend the subject to your deliberate consideration.
“We invite your particular attention to a review of the process prescribed
in the Discipline in the provision for locating a preacher without his
consent. The course directed in case of the trial of a superannuated
preacher, residing without the bounds of the annual conference of which he
is a member, is found to be attended with great inconvenience, and is liable
to result in injustice to the accused, or injury to the church. A
considerable number of superannuated preachers (and the number is constantly
increasing) have their residence many hundred miles from the bounds of the
conferences where they hold their membership. The consequence is, that it
repeatedly occurs, that the communications which the Discipline requires
them to make to their own conference fail to be received, in which cases the
passage of their characters may be involved, and they are liable to be
deprived of their regular allowance, even when they sustain the fairest
reputation, and when they are in real need of the amount to which they have
a lawful claim. But these points are far from being the most important,
though they are certainly entitled to consideration. The subject embraces
deeper interests, both to the individuals and to the church. In case of the
trial of a superannuated preacher, within the bounds of a conference remote
from his own, as provided for in the Discipline, there are several
difficulties which experiment can hardly fail to make obvious. It is
provided that the presiding elder, in whose district the accused may reside,
shall bring him to trial, and in case of suspension, shall forward to the
annual conference of which the accused is a member, exact minutes of the
charges, testimony, and decision of the committee in the ease, and on the
testimony thus furnished, the conference must decide. The great difficulty
of deciding important cases equitably, from minutes of testimony thus taken,
is well known. This difficulty is increased in proportion to the complexity
of the ease, and the conflicting character of the testimony. Add to this,
that it will rarely be practicable in such cases for the accuser and accused
to be brought face to face, or for either to be present to plead in the
premises. Distance of place, length of time required, and the labor and
expense involved, would, in most eases, form an insurmountable obstacle to
the parties being heard before the tribunal where judgment must finally be
given. And, further, in cases of this kind it must frequently happen that
the testimony will be voluminous, and the difficulty and expense of its
transmission very considerable. And finally, documents forwarded a great
distance are very liable to fail of reaching their place of destination, in
which case the administration of justice might be delayed, if not finally
defeated, and the church suffer reproach. Besides, the present provision in
our Discipline is, in our opinion, too liable to abuse. Should any one of
the annual conferences think it proper to enter upon any favorite
enterprise, for the success of which they might conceive it necessary to
have agents operating without their own bounds, it would be no difficult
matter to place such brethren as would very well serve their case in a
superannuated relation. And if the object to be accomplished was of very
deep interest, the liability of their agents to trial and suspension by a
committee would hardly form an obstacle, especially as the final decision of
the case would be in their own power. In view of all the difficulties to
which the present provision is liable, we are inclined to the opinion that a
different course might be devised, by which the ends of justice might be
obtained more readily, and with greater certainty, and in perfect accordance
with our system of government. As the trial and expulsion of a preacher is
not to be regarded simply as a process affecting only his relation to the
conference where he belongs, but is to all intents and purposes an expulsion
from the itinerant connection, and from the Church; and as the same rules
for the trial of preachers must govern the action of all the annual
conferences, and the same rights and privileges are secured to all by the
constitution and Discipline of the Church, we are not apprised of any valid
objection to the trial of traveling preachers by the annual conferences in
which they may reside at the time of the occurrence of the offense of which
they are accused. Indeed, it would seem that the principle of
constitutionality in such a course is fully recognized by the General
Conference in the present provision: — For if a presiding elder may have
jurisdiction over a superannuated preacher, residing within his district,
and out of the bounds of his own conference, so as to suspend him from all
official acts and privileges, which is the utmost extent of his authority in
regard to the preachers stationed in his district, it will be difficult, it
is presumed, to raise valid constitutional objections to the jurisdiction of
an annual conference to prosecute such cases to a final issue. And it can
hardly be doubted that these two great advantages would be secured by such a
process — it would secure a more ready and easy access to testimony,
especially such as might be presumptive and circumstantial, on which, it is
well known, the final issue may materially depend, and afford the accuser
and accused the opportunity of appearing face to face, to plead their own
cause. And we respectfully suggest whether a provision, in some respects
similar, might not be made for the trial of local preachers in the circuits
where they are charged with committing offenses. With these views we submit
the subject to your consideration. Since the General Conference provided for
the appointment of preachers to the charge of seminaries of learning, many
institutions for the education of youth of both sexes have sprung up,
preferring their claims to such appointments. Most of these schools have
been originated by individuals, or associations of individuals, having no
other connection with an annual conference than such as consists in the
courtesy of patronage, connected with the annual visits of a committee
appointed for the purpose of attending their examinations, and reporting the
results.
“In discharging the important and responsible duties of their office, your
superintendents have not been so happy as to avoid difficulty from this
department; and in some eases their convictions of the limits of their
authority, in connection with their judgment of expediency, have compelled
them, though with the most friendly reciprocal feelings, to differ from the
views, and decline to meet the express wishes of annual conferences. And it
is with the most sincere satisfaction that they refer their opinions and
acts to this body, that if in error, as they are certainly liable to be,
they may be corrected, and the whole body harmonized on all material points.
There are two distinct cases in which the superintendents are authorized to
appoint preachers to institutions of learning. The one respects such
institutions as are or may be under our superintendence, and the other, such
as are not. Out of these cases several important questions have originated,
which have been the ground of the difference of opinion of which we have
just spoken. These questions may be stated as follows: 1. What is necessary
to constitute a seminary of learning so far under our superintendence as to
bring it fairly within the rule of the General Conference authorizing the
appointment of a preacher to it? 2. What classes of literary institutions
was it the intention of the General Conference to embrace in this provision?
3. In providing for the appointment of preachers to ’seminaries of
learning’ not under our superintendence, was it the intention of the General
Conference to include all classes of literary institutions, if the
appointment was requested by an annual conference, or to limit the
appointment to seminaries of collegiate literature? 4, Is an appointment
under this provision discretionary with the superintendent, or does the
request of an annual conference create an obligation as a matter of duty, as
in the case of appointments in the districts and circuits? There are
principles and interests, in our opinion, involved in these questions which
have a special claim to the deliberate consideration of this body. From the
numerous applications which are made for the appointment of preachers, to be
school teachers and agents for various institutions, it is to be feared that
unless the subject be clearly defined, and carefully guarded by suitable
limitations and restrictions, our grand itinerant system may be impaired by
a virtual location of many valuable ministers, and the Church suffer in
spiritual interests from the loss of useful labors. There are at this time
about seventy of the effective traveling preachers employed as presidents,
professors, principals, and teachers in literary institutions, and as agents
devoted to their interests. These ministers are selected from the several
annual conferences with reference to their qualifications for the duties of
their station. They are men of talent, science, and learning, and many of
them ministers of age and experience. And the calls for such appointments
are constantly multiplying on our hands. While we readily and thankfully
acknowledge the usefulness of brethren employed in this important department
of our great work, we must be permitted to doubt whether the cause of God
might not be more effectually and extensively promoted, if, to say the
least, a very large proportion of these able ministers of Christ were
exclusively devoted to the work of the gospel ministry. And we respectfully
suggest the inquiry, whether pious and learned men may not be obtained from
the local ministry, or from the official or private membership, well
qualified as teachers to advance the cause of education, and by this means
bring into the regular field of itinerant labor a great weight of talent and
influence now almost confined to the precincts of academies and colleges.
“At the last session of this body the publication of three religious
periodicals was provided for, in addition to those previously established.
They have now, it is presumed, been before the religious community a
sufficient time to enable you to form an opinion of their intrinsic merits
as official papers, going forth to an enlightened and reading people, under
the authority and patronage of the General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and of their usefulness in promoting the great enterprise
in which we are engaged, by spreading abroad the light of gospel truth,
advancing the interests of our important institutions, and strengthening the
bonds of peace and harmony in the Church. The influence of the periodical
press, either for weal or woe, is too well ascertained to render it
necessary for this body to be reminded of the importance of throwing around
it, so far as it is under their direction and patronage, those safeguards
which shall preserve its unity, and render it subservient to the promotion
of intellectual, moral, and religious improvement. We have no doubt but you
will agree with us in sentiment, that our religious papers should take no
part in the political warfare of the day — that they should never interfere
with the civil institutions of the country that they should promote, as far
as practicable, quietness, peace; and love, among all Christian people, and
especially in the Church by whose authority and patronage they exist, and
whose interests they are particularly designed to serve. Whatever might have
been the views of the General Conference at the time of the establishment of
these papers, it did not occur to the superintendents that they were to be
mediums of mercantile or professional advertisements; and we respectfully
submit it to your enlightened judgment, whether it is consistent with the
character of the Church, and the grand designs of her religious
institutions, among which the periodical press is one of the most efficient,
to make them such. We are not apprised whether recourse has been had to this
measure from courtesy to friends in secular occupations, or for the purpose
of realizing funds sufficient to meet the expenses of publication. But with
due deference, we must be permitted to doubt whether the credit or the
general interests of the Methodist Church will be promoted by the
publication of a paper under the official sanction of the General
Conference, which cannot obtain a patronage sufficient to meet its expenses
without devoting its columns to business advertisements. Your timely and
judicious advice to the annual conferences, not to establish any more
conference papers, has been respectfully regarded, so that no new paper has
been published by any conference for the last four years, except one, which
has since been discontinued, and it is believed there is an increasing
conviction in the conferences generally, that it is inexpedient to publish
such papers. Several papers, however, are published, assuming to be in the
interests of the Methodist Church, and edited by Methodist preachers, and
which are patronized to a considerable extent by many members of several
annual conferences. We are already admonished by the history of the past,
how easy it is, under the popular pretext of the right of free discussion,
to disturb the harmony and peace of the Church, stir up strife and
contention, alienate the affection of brethren from each other, and finally
injure the cause of Christ.
“Applications from members and ministers of other churches, with whom we are
in Christian fellowship, are becoming more frequent, and a variety of
opinions being entertained by preachers of age and experience, with regard
to the manner of receiving them among us, the Discipline making no special
provision in the case, we have thought it advisable to bring the subject
before you, with a view to the adopting a course which may harmonize the
views and official action of all concerned, and manifest that spirit of
Christian charity which should always abound in the church of Christ. It is
only necessary for us to lay before you the different opinions entertained
on the subject, which, from the character and number of those who hold them,
are certainly entitled to respectful attention. With regard to private
members of other churches who make application for membership with us, it
has been maintained on the one hand, that they should be admitted and remain
on trial for six months, as the Discipline provides, before they are
received into the Church; and on the other, that the circumstance of their
being regular and approved members of other churches, with which we are in
Christian fellowship, virtually answers the essential ends of the provision
for a probationer, and consequently that they should be received into the
Church without requiring such trial. The views which are entertained with
respect to receiving ministers from other churches are not capable of so
simple a definition. But they may be summed up as follows: — Many are of the
opinion, that, in common with all other persons, they should be admitted on
trial, and pass a probation of six months, before they are received as
members of the Church. That, being received as such, they should obtain
recommendation and license and graduate in the ministry, in strict
conformity to the letter of the Discipline, without regard to their
ordination by the constitutional authorities of the churches from which they
came. Others are of the opinion that, coming to us with accredited
testimonials of their Christian piety and official standing, and giving
satisfaction, on examination as the Discipline directs, with respect to
their belief in our doctrine, and approval of our discipline, they should be
immediately received and accredited as ministers among us. And that on
answering the questions, and taking upon them, the solemn obligations of our
ordination service, they should receive credentials of authority to
administer the holy sacraments without the imposition of hands repeated by
us, unless they themselves should incline to it. These conflicting opinions,
in connection with the fact that a number of ministers have been received
among us in conformity to the latter view, seem to require that the General
Conference take such order upon it as in their wisdom may be best calculated
to produce unanimity of sentiment and action, and promote Christian
confidence and affection between ourselves and other religious
denominations, without impairing any fundamental principle of our order and
government
“Of your general superintendents, six in number, three are enfeebled by
labor, age, and infirmity. We are of one heart and one mind, acknowledging
our obligation according to our ability, and to the utmost extent of it, to
serve the Church of God in that highly responsible office which you have
committed to us; but, in view of our own weakness and the arduous work
intrusted to us, with fear and much trembling, we have cause to exclaim,
‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ There are now twenty-eight annual
conferences represented in this body, and in all probability the number will
be considerably increased during your present session. These embrace a
country extending from New Brunswick to Texas on the Atlantic coast and Gulf
of Mexico, and from the sea-board to the vast northern lakes, and to the
territories on the upper Mississippi and Missouri. The general
superintendents sustain the same relation to all these conferences; and our
system requires that we should be annually visited. Between three and four
thousand traveling preachers are to be appointed every year to their fields
of ministerial labor. These appointments must be made with due regard to the
qualifications, age, infirmities, and domestic circumstances of this vast
body of ministers, and with the same regard to the condition and wants of
the millions of people to whom they are sent. To minds capable of grasping
this vast machinery of our itinerant system, it will readily appear that an
effective itinerant superintendency is indispensably necessary to keep it in
regular, energetic, and successful operation. It must be effective, not
imbecile; general, not sectional; itinerant, not local. Destitute of either
of these prerequisites, the probable result would be a disorganization of
the system, and weakness and inefficiency in all its parts. In the relation
we sustain to you as the highest judicatory of the Church, and to the whole
itinerant connection, it becomes us to be cautious and unassuming in
presenting you with our sentiments on a subject like this, in which it may
be supposed we have a special individual interest. We will only suggest two
points for your consideration, which we are confident will appear to you in
the same light in which we view them. ‘The first is to preserve a sufficient
number of effective superintendents to secure to the conferences their
regular annual visits, taking into view the number of conferences, and their
relative locations. And, second, that there be no greater number than is
strictly necessary to accomplish this work, carefully guarding against the
increase of the numbers of laborers beyond the proportionate increase of the
work, bearing in mind that, if we would have laboring preachers, we must
have laboring superintendents. As the number of annual conferences
increases, and the work extends in the states and territories, it becomes
necessary to strengthen the general superintendency in due proportion. But,
as you will doubtless have an able committee to examine and report on this
important subject, we forbear any further remarks in relation to it.
“Our missionary operations among the Indians, and in foreign countries,
especially on the continent of Africa, are recommended to your special
attention. The condition of the Indian tribes located on the western
boundary line of Arkansas and Missouri, and the territories on the upper
Mississippi and Missouri rivers, calls aloud for united and vigorous efforts
to disperse among them the light of the gospel, and the blessings of
civilization. We are encouraged to such effort by the circumstance that
there is an increasing disposition among most of the tribes to encourage the
labors of our missionaries, and improve their condition by the establishment
of schools for the instruction of their children in the knowledge of our
language, and in agriculture and mechanical arts.
“Since your last session, a plan has been devised, with the approbation of
the officers and board of managers of the Parent Missionary Society, to
establish a central Indian manual labor school, with the design of
collecting and teaching the native children of the several adjacent tribes.
The plan has been submitted to the executive department of the national
government having the superintendence of Indian affairs, and has met with a
favorable and encouraging consideration; and we are much indebted to
officers and agents of the civil government in, and adjacent to, the Indian
country, for the extensive aid they have given in the establishment of the
institution, both by employing their influence in recommending it to the
Indians, and advising in its structure and organization. This school is
already, to a considerable extent, in successful operation. Native children,
from five different tribes, are collected; and men from these tribes have
visited the institution, and have very generally been satisfied with its
government and objects. We cannot but regard this establishment as full of
promise of lasting benefits to the Indian race. But as a detailed report of
its organization, designs, and prospects, will come before you, we will only
add our earnest recommendation of the plan to your deliberate consideration,
with regard to the present condition and wants of the Indians, and its
adaptation to the great objects it is designed to accomplish — the
conversion of the Indians to the Christian faith, and their improvement in
all the arts and habits of civilized life. And we would further recommend an
inquiry into the expediency of establishing one or more institutions, at
suitable locations in the Indian country, on the same plan, and for the same
purposes.
To Africa we look with the deepest solicitude. Our sympathies, prayers, and
efforts mingle on her coasts. In our missionary enterprise commenced at
Liberia, we aim at the conversion of a continent to God. The handful of
precious seed which has been sown in that infant colony, and watered by the
tears and prayers of the missionaries and the Church, shall spring up and
ripen to be sown again with a hundred-fold increase, till Africa shall
become one fruitful field, cultivated in righteousness. Although a number of
faithful and devoted missionaries have fallen in that field of labors we
should by no means be discouraged in the prosecution of so great a work.
They have fallen asleep, but they sleep in the Lord. And being dead they
still speak; and the voice from their tombs is a call to the church of
Christ on the American continent to emulate their holy zeal, and fill up the
ranks from which they have been removed. We have no doubt but you will be
disposed to take some efficient measures for the constitutional organization
of the Liberia annual conference, and to provide for the ordination of
ministers in their own country, that the infant African church may be duly
and regularly supplied, not only with the ministry of the word, but also
with the holy sacraments.
“The character which the Oregon mission has recently assumed, is well
calculated to invite your particular attention to that extensive and
important field of missionary enterprise. We can have little doubt that,
with the blessing of God attending our efforts, the time will arrive, when
the interests of the missionary colony, and the success of the work among
the aboriginal tribes, will call for the organization of an annual
conference in that vast territory. And our grand object should be to
preserve one harmonious compact, in the unity of the Spirit, and the bonds
of peace, and that Methodism may be one on either side of the Pacific and
Atlantic oceans, and on all the islands of the sea;
‘And mountains rise and oceans roll To sever us in vain.’
“It was doubtless a wise and safe provision, that copies of the records of
the proceedings of the annual conferences should be forwarded to the General
Conference for examination. By this means the General Conference may obtain
the knowledge of the official acts of those bodies, from evidence which
cannot be disputed or contravened, and consequently they may correct errors
in their proceedings, if found to exist, on the simple authority of official
records. We regret to say that, in our opinion, this judicious provision has
not been sufficiently regarded, either on the part of the annual
conferences, in forwarding copies of these records, or on the part of the
General Conference in a careful inspection of them. As these records
contain, not only the official transactions of the conferences, having an
important connection with the government and general interests of the
Church, but also frequently embrace the opinions of the superintendents on
questions of law, and the administration of discipline; and as it is the
constitutional prerogative of this body to correct what is erroneous in
these transactions and opinions, with an earnest desire that all things may
be done in every official department of the Church in strict conformity to
her constitution and Discipline, we recommend a careful examination of these
records at your present session.
“Finally, brethren, we commend you and ourselves, and the ministers and
people connected with us in the bonds of the gospel of Christ, to the
guidance and protection of the great Head of the church, whose we are and
whom we serve; sincerely and ardently praying that your deliberations, with
all their results, may be under the influence of that wisdom which is from
above; which is pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated; full of mercy
and good fruits, without partiality or hypocrisy.
“We are, dear brethren, sincerely and affectionately yours, in the unity and
fellowship of the gospel of Christ,
“R. R. Roberts, “Joshua Soule, “Elijah Hedding, “James O. Andrew, “B. Waugh,
“Thomas A. Morris, “Baltimore, May 4,1840.”
The several subjects adverted to in this very able address were referred to
appropriate committees; and so far as their reports were adopted by the
conference, they will be noticed in the proper places. After the address of
the bishops was received and disposed of, Mr. Newton presented the following
address from the Wesleyan Methodist Conference, which was read by the
seminary, and referred to a committee of three to consider and report
thereon:
“Address of the British Conference to the Bishops and Members of the General
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America
“Very Dear Brethren, — We gratefully avail ourselves of this opportunity to
renew the tokens of our fraternal intercourse with you; and, while we
unfeignedly rejoice in all the blessings with which it has pleased Almighty
God to accompany your cares and labors, we devoutly pray that ‘mercy unto
you, and peace, and love’ may be yet more abundantly ‘multiplied, from God
the Father, and from the Lord Jesus, the Son of the Father, in truth and
love.’
“It has afforded us great satisfaction to hear from different quarters of
your continued prosperity, and especially to receive the personal
communications which have been made to us at this conference by the Rev. Dr.
Olin. We are thankful that, notwithstanding the languor of indisposition,
this esteemed minister in your Church, and our beloved brother, has been
able to attend several of the sittings of the conference, and to address us,
at considerable length, on topics which are more than usually gratifying to
our best affections. Most sincerely do we hope that God will, in his
goodness, more fully restore his health, and prepare him, by an increase of
vigor, and of every spiritual gift, long to occupy the important station
which, to speak according to the views and feelings of frail mortality, has
been so prematurely left vacant by the decease of the excellent and lamented
Dr. Fisk.
From a wish to perpetuate a free and familiar interchange of kindly offices
with you, in the way which we doubt not is most agreeable to you as well as
to ourselves, we have requested our dear friend and brother, the Rev. Robert
Newton, to visit you at your next General Conference. To enlarge on the high
regard which we entertain for our honored messenger — a regard which he has
justly merited by his unweariable and faithful services in every province of
our work, and by the exemplary manner in which he has, at two different
times, sustained the most momentous office in our body — would be a welcome
task to us; for it is pleasant to speak of those whom we love but it is, on
the present occasion, perfectly unnecessary. You are not unacquainted with
the character which he bears in this country; and yon will receive him as a
chosen representative of the British Conference, and as one in whose views
and principles we repose entire confidence.
The subject which has this year engrossed no small portion of our attention,
cannot fail to awaken the deepest interest in every part of the Wesleyan
community throughout the globe. You will anticipate our reference to the
close of the first century of our existence as an organized religious
society. On a review of the hundred years which have now reached their
termination, we humbly acknowledge and adore the mercy of God, who
marvelously raised up our ever-revered fathers as the instruments, in his
hands, of so extensive a revival of primitive Christianity; who has
preserved us, as a connection, in the midst of many conflicts and changes;
and who has granted us, at this time, so cordial a sense of attachment,
which we trust that nothing shall ever be permitted to abate, to the
doctrines, spirit; and usages of those venerated men who now rest in eternal
peace. May the Lord God of our fore-elders, and of all who fear his most
holy name, bestow upon us a larger measure of his Spirit’s grace, and grant
that the second century of the Wesleyan Society may be marked by still more
illustrious displays of his power and love in the church universal, and in
the world!
“But while we freely indulge in sentiments such as these, we cannot forget
that on one subject especially — the subject of American slavery — you, our
beloved brethren, are placed in circumstances of painful trial and
perplexity. We enter, with brotherly sympathy, into the peculiar situation
which you are now called to occupy. But, on this question, we beg to refer
you to what occurs in our address to you from the conference of 1836, a
proper copy of which will be handed to you by our representative as also to
the contents of our preceding letter of 1835. To the principles which we
have affectionately but honestly declared in these two documents we still
adhere, with a full conviction of their Christian truth and justice.
“The time which has elapsed, and the events which have taken place, since
the preparation of the above-mentioned papers, serve only to confirm us yet
more in our views of the moral evil of slavery. Far be it from us to
advocate violent and ill-considered measures. We are, however, strongly and
unequivocally of opinion that it is, at this time, the paramount Christian
duty of the ministers of our most merciful Lord in your country to maintain
the principle of opposition to slavery with earnest zeal, and unflinching
firmness. May we not also be allowed, with the heart-felt solicitude of
fraternal love, to entreat that you will not omit or qualify the noble
testimony which we have extracted, in a note to our address, from your Book
of Discipline, but that you will continue to insert it there in its
primitive and unimpaired integrity.
And now, very dear brethren, we commend you to the protection and mercies of
the ‘only wise God, our Saviour,’ with united prayers that you, and all who
labor with you in the word and doctrine, with the multitudes who are happily
brought to share in your Christian fellowship, may enjoy a richer effusion
of the Holy Spirit’s promised unction, and may at last be ‘presented
faultless before the presence of our common Saviour’s glory.’ To Him be
‘glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.’
Signed, by order of the conference,
“Theophilus Lessey, President. “Liverpool August 16, 1839.”
The following is the answer which the conference returned to the above
address of the Wesleyan Conference: —
“Answer of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church — To the
Reverend the President and Members of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in
Great Britain
“Honored and Very Dear Brethren, — We acknowledge with grateful emotions the
reception of your letters at the hand of your excellent representative, our
honored and esteemed brother, the Rev. Robert Newton, whose visit, as your
messenger, we esteem the best and kindest proof you could have given of your
love for us, and desire to promote our blessed unity. His bright example of
love and courtesy, simplicity and dignity in conference, and of pure
essential Methodism, full of faith and charity, abounding in hope, rejoicing
only in Christ Jesus, and knowing no respite from labor, in his public
ministry, has been alike edifying and refreshing to us; while also, we have
felt our hearts warmed thereby, and drawn closely to you in affection,
partakers of the same spirit with you, walking by the same rule, minding the
same thing, one people, and our name one in the Lord Jesus.
“And it will not be unwelcome to you that we add, further, an expression of
the gratification it has afforded us to be favored with the presence of our
beloved and endeared brother Mr. Harvard, and our friend Mr. Richie, of the
district of Lower Canada, and of Mr. President Stinson, and the excellent
brethren, John and Edgerton Ryerson, representatives of the Wesleyan
Methodist Church in Upper Canada. May the God of our common fathers make you
a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, that from you the
word of the Lord may sound out unto all people as unto us at the beginning,
and the fruits of your labors be multiplied in all the earth, to the glory
of God, by the power of the holy Ghost, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
“We fully unite with you, dear brethren, in the expression you give of your
cordial and even jealous attachment to the principles, doctrines, and usages
of Methodism, as established under the heaven-directed ministry of our
venerated fathers. Those principles, doctrines, and usages we have
especially felt that we were called to review, (and reviewing them, have
taken, we trust, still closer to our hearts,) on the great occasion of our
first centennial jubilee. This has been a joyful time with us, even as with
you, our whole communion joining in extraordinary acts of devotion and
offerings to the Lord, giving grateful evidence of our common character the
world over, and covenanting to keep Methodism still unworldly and spiritual,
abounding in charity, a work of righteousness and peace, rendering unto
Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.
“We greatly rejoice, and give thanks unto the Lord for all your prosperity,
brethren, and especially for your peaceful state, and the success of your
missions. Missionary zeal, founded in love, is the vital pulse of Methodism,
the purity and fruitfulness of which, in its home department, depend on the
active sympathy there with the work abroad. Methodism, indeed, might not so
much as exist in a narrower parish than the world, nor act on any other than
her own gospel principle of equal duty to all tongues and kindreds. Actuated
by this principle, we have labored to carry the gospel into every part of
our great country; and now into Texas, the territory of Oregon, South
America, and Africa at the entrance of Liberia on the western coast. But,
alas, how feeble and insufficient are our efforts to accomplish, to any
considerable degree, the great work of evangelizing mankind! We long for the
salvation of God to become universal.
“The unusual and unwelcome fact of a decrease in our numbers the year
previous to our last General Conference, and to which you so kindly and
piously allude in your letter of August following, induced much searching of
heart, both among our preachers and people; and through God’s abounding
grace, we have not been afflicted since on a like account. At that time our
numbers were — of traveling preachers, 2,781, and of members, 650,678. And
in September last they were, of traveling preachers 3,296, and members
740,459; showing an increase of 515 traveling preachers, and 89,781 members
since our last General Conference. We record it with thanksgiving, though we
reckon not our strength by numbers.
“We have considered, with affectionate respect and confidence, your
brotherly suggestions concerning slavery, and most cheerfully return an
unreserved answer to them. And we do so the rather, brethren, because of the
numerous prejudicial statements which have been put forth in certain
quarters to the wounding of the Church. We assure you then, brethren, that
we have adopted no new principle or rule of discipline respecting slavery
since the time of our apostolic Asbury; neither do we mean to adopt any. In
our General Rules, (called the ‘General Rules of the United Societies,’ and
which are of constitutional authority in our Church,) ‘the buying and
selling of men, women, and children, with an intention to enslave them,’ is
expressly prohibited; and in the same words, substantially, which have been
used for the rule since 1792. And the extract of part ii, section 10, of our
Book of Discipline, which you quote with approbation, and denominate ‘a
noble testimony,’ is still of force to the same extent that it has been for
many years; nor do we entertain any purpose to omit or qualify this section,
or any part thereof. For while we should regard it a sore evil to divert
Methodism from her proper work of ’spreading Scripture holiness over these
lands,’ to questions of temporal import, involving the rights of Caesar, yet
are we not the less minded on that account to promote and set forward all
humane and generous actions, or to prevent, to the utmost of our power, such
as are evil and unchristian. It is our first desire, after piety toward God,
to be merciful after our power; as we have opportunity, doing good of every
possible sort, and as far as possible to all men, ‘to their bodies,’ but
especially, and above all, ‘to their souls.’
“Of these United States, (to the government and laws of which, ‘according to
the division of power made to them by the constitution of the Union, and the
constitutions of the several states,’ we owe, and delight to render, a
sincere and patriotic loyalty,) there are several which do not allow of
slavery. There are others in which it is allowed, and there are slaves; but
the tendency of the laws, and the minds of the majority of the people, are
in favor of emancipation. But there are others in which slavery exists so
universally, and is so closely interwoven with their civil institutions,
that both do the laws disallow of emancipation, and the great body of the
people (the source of laws with us) hold it to be treasonable to set forth
any thing, by word or deed, tending that way. Each one of all these states
is independent of the rest and sovereign, with respect to its internal
government, (as much so as if there existed no confederation among them for
ends of common interest,) and therefore it is impossible to frame a rule on
slavery proper for our people in all the states alike. But our march is
extended through all the states, and as it would be wrong and unscriptural
to enact a rule of discipline in opposition to the constitution and laws of
the state on this subject, so also would it not be equitable or Scriptural
to confound the positions of our ministers and people (so different as they
are in different states) with respect to the moral question which slavery
involves.
“Under the administration of the venerated Dr. Coke, this plain distinction
was once overlooked, and it was attempted to urge emancipation in all the
states; but the attempt proved almost ruinous, and was soon abandoned by the
doctor himself. While, therefore, the Church has encouraged emancipation in
those states where the laws permit it, and allowed the freed-man to enjoy
freedom, we have refrained, for conscience’ sake, from all intermeddling
with the subject in those other states where the laws make it criminal. And
such a course we think agreeable to the Scriptures, and indicated by St.
Paul’s inspired instruction to servants in his First Epistle to the
Corinthians, chap. vii, ver. 20,21. For if servants were not to care for
their servitude when they might not be free, though if they might be free
they should use it rather; so, neither should masters be condemned for not
setting them free when they might not do so, though if they might they
should do so rather. The question of the evil of slavery, abstractedly
considered, you will readily perceive, brethren, is a very different matter
from a principle or rule of Church discipline to be executed contrary to,
and in defiance of, the law of the land. Methodism has always been (except
perhaps in the single instance above) eminently loyal and promotive of good
order; and so we desire it may ever continue to be, both in Europe and
America. With this sentiment we confide the subject, adding only the
corroborating language of your noble Missionary Society, by the revered and
lamented Watson, in their instructions to missionaries, published in the
report of 1833, as follows: —
“‘As in the colonies in which you are called to labor a great proportion of
the inhabitants are in a state of slavery, the committee most strongly call
to your remembrance what was so fully stated to you when yon were accepted
as a missionary to the West Indies, that your only business is to promote
the moral and religious improvement of the slaves to whom you may have
access, without in the least degree, in public or private, interfering with
their civil condition.’
“We have judged it necessary, for the preservation of the children of our
people from irreligious or unMethodistical principles while pursuing their
education at a distance from home, and for the maintenance of a due
proportion of influence in this great country, to encourage the
establishment of schools and colleges under the control of our annual
conferences, at which a liberal education should be afforded in intimate and
graceful connection with Christian training. Accordingly we have now twelve
collegiate and twenty-one academic institutions thus established, which,
though not as amply endowed as they require to be, are doing well, and we
hope will continue to do well.
Permit us, reverend and dear brethren, to refer you to our most honored and
beloved brother, Mr. Newton, for any further information you may desire on
the above subject, or the present state of our affairs in general. And again
we thank you for having sent him to us, whose name had long been known as
that of one whose noble efforts in the cause of Christ had placed him with
our Bensons, Watsons, Clarkes, and Buntings, men who have lived for the
whole world, and for Methodism in all the world. And we pray for his safe
return to you, and that it may please God our heavenly Father to make him
more and more useful among you, even to old age. If it shall please God that
our venerated and beloved Bishop Some shall be in health to do so, and the
work can possibly allow it, we expect him to make it convenient to visit
your conference two years hence; and we have appointed one of our body to
accompany him to you, or if the bishop cannot go, to represent us fully at
that time. And we solicit, brethren, a continuation of this so pleasant and
profitable interchange, at our next General Conference.
“Finally, brethren, we commend you to God’s most gracious blessing, praying
for you in the love of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, (as you also do
for us,) that you may be enriched with all spiritual blessings in Christ
Jesus, and abound in good works, to the glory of God, among all people, and
for evermore.
“Signed in behalf of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, held in Baltimore, Md., May, 1840.
“R. R. Roberts, “Joshua Soule, “Elijah Hedding, “James O. Andrew, “Beverly
Waugh, “Thomas A. Morris “John A. Collins, Secretary.”
An address was also received from the Canada Conference, full of tender
expressions of fraternal regard, and of a determination to maintain with us
an indissoluble union in doctrine, moral discipline, and brotherly
affection. This was referred to the same committee, and an answer was
returned reciprocating the same sentiments and feelings, and pledging the
conference to the inviolate preservation of the doctrines and usages of
Methodism.
The managers of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church
presented the following, expressive of their feelings and views in relation
to the great cause in which they were engaged.
“Address of the Managers of the Missionary Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church to the General Conference, to be held in Baltimore, May 1,
1840
“Dear Fathers and Brethren, — We gladly embrace the present opportunity to
present for your consideration and adoption, if you shall concur with us in
their propriety, some amendments to the constitution of our society, which
have been suggested by the experience and practice of another four years.
The most important of these relate to the appointment of n assistant
corresponding secretary; the enabling the managers to provide for those
superannuated missionaries, their wives, widows, and children, who, being on
foreign missions, are not provided for by the ordinary funds of the annual
conferences; and that which was recommended by the last General Conference,
to empower the society to make any alterations in the constitution in future
which may be recommended by the General Conference. Should therefore your
experience of the practical workings of the system enable you to detect any
defect in the provisions of the constitution, or perceive the necessity of
any amendment by which its objects may be more readily accomplished, by
pointing them out they will be considered, it is hoped, with that calmness
and respectful deference which is due to the collected wisdom and long
experience of Your venerable body.
As to the other amendments which are proposed, they appear to us so
obviously necessary for the more perfect and equitable operation of the
principles of the society as to need no special arguments to enforce them.
Leaving them therefore to be explained by those of our brethren who compose
a part of your body, and who fully comprehend our views, and the reasons on
which they are founded, we will only say that we shall cheerfully acquiesce
in whatever disposition you may be pleased to make of them, believing, as we
do, that the General Conference is equally interested with us in preserving
the integrity and promoting the prosperity of the society.
There is another subject connected with the interests of this society which
we beg permission to present to your consideration. We have been much
gratified to find that all the annual conferences, in making provision for a
suitable celebration of the centenary of Methodism, have devoted a portion
of the money which shall be realized on that occasion to the cause of
missions, most of whom, we believe, leaving the final disposition of it to
the General Conference. That this celebration has had a most happy effect
upon the cause of Methodism, we have abundant reason to believe not only in
raising money for the various objects specified, but also and more
especially in reviving true religion among us.
“For some time past we have felt the need, for the prosecution of our great
and benevolent objects, of having mission premises procured, and suitable
buildings erected, for the accommodation of our local offices, and the
meetings of the managers, &c. An estimate of the expense is herewith
presented. Should your venerable body concur with us on the propriety of
securing such premises, it would not only accommodate the society, and be a
saving of expense, but would stand as a lasting monument of the liberality
of the donors, and tell to posterity what was done on the one hundredth year
of Methodism in behalf of missions. We therefore confidently rely on the
approbation of the General Conference of this measure, and the more so as it
was fully understood at the time the division of the avails of the centenary
collections was made that this object was in contemplation by the managers
of the Missionary Society.
“The following statement will exhibit, at one view, the amount received and
expended during the past four years; for the particulars of which we refer
to the treasurer’s account, as published in the annual reports, herewith
presented: —
1837: Received $62,749.01; Expended 66,536.85
1838: Received $90,105.36; Expended $95,110.75
1839: Received $135,521.94; Expended $103,664.58
1840: Received $116,941.90; Expended $146,498.58.
From this it will be seen that there has been a rapid increase to the
resources of the society from one year to another, thereby enabling us to
meet the enlarged demands upon our treasury created by the extension of the
fields of missionary labors. We only add, that, relying upon the good
providence of God for direction and aid in urging the important trusts
committed to our charge, and upon the wisdom and integrity of the General
Conference for devising the most efficient means for carrying into practical
effect the general and benevolent objects of the society, we once more
pledge ourselves to the faithful performance of our duties, according to the
light and ability which God may be graciously pleased to vouchsafe unto
us.”
The following was also read and referred: —
“Report of the Committee on the Journal of the Corresponding Secretary of
the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church
“The committee to whom was referred the subject of the office of the
corresponding secretary, his journal, &c., respectfully report:
“That it appears by the records submitted to their examination, that the
duties of the corresponding secretary have been extensive and arduous both
at home and abroad, demonstrating the necessity of having such an officer,
as represented by the board to the last General Conference. In addition to
the preparation of the annual reports and other documentary manuscripts, the
correspondence of the society exhibits more than five hundred official
letters to missionaries, &c.; and during the last four years, we learn from
the journal kept by the present officer, that besides the duties of
corresponding secretary in the office at home, and the preparation of
multiplied reports for publication in the Advocate, he has traveled in the
service of the society more than eleven thousand miles, in visiting ten
annual conferences, some of them twice and thrice, and in holding missionary
meetings in ten different states in the Union. “It also appears that he has
delivered one hundred and thirty-four missionary sermons and addresses, in
various parts of the country, and been directly instrumental in this way of
bringing into the treasury the amount of $13,427. How far his labors and
writings have been further tributary to the increase of our funds, we have
no data upon which to make the estimate. We invite attention, however, to
the increased contributions to our treasury since his appointment, as
affording evidence that the cause is improving annually under the present
system of operations. During the first year of his appointment, the receipts
were $62,749 — the second, $90,105.36 — the third, $135,521.94 — and this,
too, notwithstanding the unprecedented prostration of the times. The amount
of the fourth and last year is not yet ascertained, but will be found
comparatively large, though less than the previous year, because of the
special efforts made for the centenary fund, a portion of which is destined
to our treasury.
“From a review of the whole subject, your committee respectfully submit the
following resolutions to be communicated to the next General Conference: —
“Resolved, That the experience of the last four years has amply confirmed
the propriety of the appointment of a corresponding secretary devoted to the
interests of this society, as prayed for at the last General Conference.
“Resolved, That this board bear their united testimony to the diligent,
faithful, and successful performance of the duties of the office by the
present incumbent; and in view of his long experience in the service of the
board, we shall rejoice at his reappointment by the next General
Conference.”
A number of petitions and memorials were received on a variety of subjects,
particularly in reference to slavery and abolitionism, all of which were
referred to appropriate committees. It seems that among these, some of the
petitioners were not content with asking simply for the abolition of slavery
instantly and unconditionally, but they also coupled with it a desire for an
alteration in some important features of our Church organization. This
latter subject was referred to the committee on the itinerancy, who
presented the following report, which was concurred in by the conference:
“The committee to whom were referred the petitions and memorials on the
subjects of a moderate episcopacy, the election of presiding elders by the
annual conferences, and a lay delegation in the General Conference, have
bestowed upon the matters submitted to them the attention which they were
conceived to merit, and submit the following report:
“It appears the petitions and memorials on these subjects have been obtained
by a concerted operation, under the direction of some single intellect,
inasmuch as nearly every petition on any one of these subjects is not only
substantially, but literally the same — most of them being printed slips,
cut from some newspaper, and where they are written, literal copies of such
as are printed. This fact induced a conviction in the minds of the committee
that these petitions and memorials are the result of agitation, and not of
original dissatisfaction on the part of most of the persons signing those
petitions and memorials; and, therefore, by no means deserving the same
consideration as if they were the spontaneous expression of the
dissatisfaction of the petitioners and memorialists. But if it were
otherwise, the number of petitioners is so very small in proportion to the
entire membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church, that, in the opinion of
the committee, these memorials and petitions, regarding not individual
grievances, but general interests, are entitled to no other consideration
than that to which they are entitled as mere arguments in favor of the
courses indicated. And as the committee have not seen reason to attach much
importance to them in this light, they are not prepared to recommend the
measures which are called for by these petitions and memorials.
“Moreover, the committee, having witnessed the operation of the present
system of Methodist Episcopal Church government, and being persuaded that
its operation has been eminently useful, would require the most cogent
reasons to induce them to recommend changes so important and so fundamental;
especially as two, at least, of these changes have been, after long, grave,
and deliberate consideration, recently declined by the Methodist Episcopal
Church. The committee refer to the proceedings of the General Conference of
1828, for the light in which the election of presiding elders by the annual
conferences, and a lay delegation in the General Conference, was then
viewed; and the decision which was made by the Church on these subjects.
“With the views above presented, the committee can do no other than present
the following resolution, viz.: —
“Resolved, That it is not expedient to change the form of our Church
government in any of the matters suggested in the petitions and memorials
which have been under the consideration of the committee.”
While this report was under consideration, the following conversation took
place between some members of the conference and the Rev. Mr. Newton, the
respected representative from England.
Having expressed his willingness to answer any questions which might be put
to him in reference to the subjects then under discussion, he was asked,
“Whether there was any authority among them equal in extent of power to our
superintendency?
“Rev. Mr. Newton. — We have the thing without the name. The president of our
conference exercises more authority than your venerable bishops. He can, at
any time, arrest debate by his decision; and, although Mr. Wesley did not
assume the title, he claimed and exercised the prerogatives of a Christian
bishop. Our chairmen of districts are, in their sphere, also representatives
of the president.
“Rev. Mr. Horton asked, whether the presidents were not elected annually?
“Rev. Mr. Newton. — Unquestionably they are; but the president never dies.
“Is not the chairman of the district also elected annually? asked Rev. Mr.
Horton.
“Unquestionably he is, but he never dies, replied Rev. Mr. Newton.
“The chair also inquired of Rev. Mr. Newton, whether the president of the
British Conference did not decide many questions which we decide by the vote
of the conference; to which he received an affirmative response.
“Rev. Mr. Horton also asked, how long the chairman of the district might
retain his office? to which he received the reply, that it depended on
circumstances. He always deferred to seniority in case of the presence of a
more aged minister. This was generally, if not invariably and universally
done.”
It is due, perhaps, to the interests of truth, as well as to the character
of our people, to say, that the dissatisfaction evinced by these memorials
restricted to comparatively few, the great majority of our preachers and
people being entirely satisfied with our general economy, and in love with
our peculiar doctrines and features of Church government, and were therefore
heartily sickened with the perpetual complainings of a few restless
individuals respecting tyranny and oppression.
On the subject of education the committee reported as follows on those parts
of the bishops’ address which referred to an increase in the number of
literary institutions a general course of instruction, and to Biblical
knowledge and ecclesiastical history, the episcopal power of stationing
preachers in seminaries of learning, and the zealous of their support: —
“Your committee believe that the advantages of education are most widely
diffused and certainly secured, by multiplying institutions of learning
within proper limits, but it is obvious enough that if their number is too
great to admit of their being competently endowed, the ends of their
creation must be defeated; it is certainly wise policy, therefore, for the
different annual conferences to secure the permanence of those already
established, before they attempt to found others.
“In regard to the course of studies to be pursued in our literary
institutions, to which the attention of the committee has been called in the
address of the bishops, and by a resolution of the Baltimore conference,
they believe that it would be inexpedient to lay down a course which should
be pursued in all cases. The board of trustees and faculties will desire to
exercise some control in this matter, and it seems to your committee proper
that they should. There is a wide and allowable difference of opinion upon
the subject, and an attempt to produce uniformity would be most likely to
cause dissatisfaction, without accomplishing the object; but your committee
do not hesitate to recommend that the commonly received English version of
the Bible should be introduced into every school and college, and that it
should be studied according to some system which may be adopted by the
different boards of instruction in their several institutions, and in those
institutions which embrace the ancient languages, they recommend that the
Old and New Testaments be studied in the originals critically; they also
recommend that the ‘Evidences of Christianity,’ and ‘Ecclesiastical
history,’ constitute a part of the regular course in all our colleges and
universities. When it is remembered that heathen mythology, Roman and
Grecian archeology, and profane history, enter into the regular course of
most literary institutions, and are believed to be essential to the
education of an accomplished scholar, it can need but little argument to
prove that knowledge, so much more important, should be imparted to the
student.
“Your committee recommend that in all the universities and colleges under
the control of the Church, the instruction given in every department of
science and literature, in their broadest sense, be full and thorough. Some
arguments may be urged in favor of a limited education, none can have weight
in favor of a superficial one; a limited education is better than none, and
one who cannot take a full course may be greatly profited by a partial one,
provided it is thorough; but those who are superficially taught, have lost
their time and money, and at the close of their collegiate education are
helpless in themselves, and useless to the community. It is a happy omen to
the world, that the Church generally is awaking to the sense of its
responsibility in providing for, sustaining, and directing public education.
It must not shrink from this responsibility; it cannot without hazarding the
most fatal consequences. Mind, energized by its own exertions, and furnished
from the armories of science, unless controlled by the restraints, and
guided by the counsels of religion, becomes the most powerful auxiliary
which infidelity and vice ever won over to their cause; while on the other
hand, the intellect, ‘brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,’
august in the integrity of its object, and the directness of its means,
vigorous from the concentration of power to one end, and invigorated by the
special blessing of God, given to those who seek to honor him, when supplied
with the argument which the learning of this age furnishes, becomes a
champion for Christianity, before whom infidelity, superstition, and bigotry
must cower and fall. It is readily conceded that principles of morality
should be taught as soon as they can be understood. It inevitably follows
that religion, which furnishes the only incontrovertible arguments to prove
the obligations of morality, and the only sanction which can enforce its
precepts, should be taught still earlier; and that all knowledge which is
afterward imparted should be harmonized with it. The neglect of this obvious
duty has caused the strange result that education fostered infidelity. It
first grew out of the efforts made to improve the gross absurdities and foul
deformities of a godless and miscalled Christianity upon the mind; and,
unhappily, has been suffered to continue after the cause ceased to exist. It
should be so no longer. Science, in its conventional sense, is a knowledge
of the works of God, the laws which govern them, their relations to each
other, and their combination into one harmonious whole. Its discoveries
demonstrate the existence of a God; and learning, in its widest sense,
arranging and concentrating the facts, proves, by a circumstantiality of
evidence and a directness of inference which are irresistible, that this God
is the God of the Bible, the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;
and the time has come when, if the Church is true to her trust, learning
will be the great agent in promoting religion, by every one of her ten
thousand instrumentalities, and over all the face of this earth. In view of
the premises, your committee believe that no jealousy should be felt in
relation to the calls which our schools and colleges are making upon the
ministry for teachers and professors. The number required will be
necessarily small in proportion to the whole number of ministers, and when
they are otherwise properly qualified, they are undoubtedly the most
suitable persons to be employed in the business of education. No fear need
be entertained lest their labor should be too light, or that they should
become effeminate and self-indulgent; a little experience would soon remove
such apprehensions. Your committee can see no good reason why preachers on
trial should not be appointed to schools and colleges.
“Your committee do not believe that the conference should make any
regulation controlling or limiting the episcopal power of stationing the
preachers, and in answer, therefore, to the question asked by the
superintendents in their address, whether an appointment to seminaries of
learning, when an annual conference requests such a one to be made, renders
it obligatory upon the bishop to comply with the request? would recommend
that it be answered in the negative.
“In conclusion, your committee, in view of the vast importance of this great
trust committed to the Church, for the purpose of making a permanent
provision for sustaining our literary institutions, recommend the adoption
of the following resolution, viz.: —
“Resolved, That any annual conference may direct public collections to be
taken up by the preachers in charge of circuits and stations, in each
society, once in each year, for the purpose of sustaining the literary
institutions ‘under its control or patronage, if it should judge it
expedient so to do, or may adopt such other measure for that end, as may
seem to the members thereof most advisable.”
As this report was very unanimously adopted by the conference, we may
consider the present policy in respect to establishing colleges and
academies as settled, and that it is highly proper that Biblical instruction
should be adopted in all our seminaries of learning.
Questions of administration had been mooted in some of the annual
conferences, on which the bishops and many members of these conferences had
disagreed respecting the power of the episcopacy to decide points of law, to
refuse putting certain questions to vote which the presiding officer might
consider unconstitutional. To settle these questions, the subject had been
submitted to the conference, and the following was the result of its
deliberations in reference to it:
1. That it is the province of the bishop “to decide all questions of law in
an annual conference, subject to an appeal to the General Conference;
but in all cases the application of law is with the conference.”
2. That it belongs to the president of a quarterly meeting “to decide all
questions of law in the quarterly meeting conference, subject to an
appeal to the president of the next annual conference; but in all cases
the application of the law shall be with the conference.”
These words, “application of the law,” appeared involved in obscurity to
some. The meaning is, I apprehend, that the conference, after the law has
been explained, is to judge of its applicability to the particular case
under consideration. Suppose a man is accused of an act of immorality; the
president of a conference explains the law, its nature and penalty in
reference to the particular act of immorality of which the person is
accused; the members of the conference then, as the judges or jurors in the
case, examine into the facts, hear witnesses, decide upon the guilt or
innocence of the accused; and then apply the law to that particular case,
and if found guilty, bring in their verdict accordingly, while the presiding
judge passes the sentence of condemnation. Here the law is applied to, or
brought to bear on that particular person, according to its legitimate
intent and meaning, the presiding officer being responsible for the
interpretation, and the conference for the application of the law to the
case in hand.
The conference also decided that the president of an annual or a quarterly
meeting conference had a right to decline putting a motion or resolution to
vote, if he considered it foreign to the proper business of a conference, or
inconsistent with constitutional provisions; and also to adjourn a
conference without a formal vote.
In respect to slavery and abolitionism, though these subjects were much
discussed, referred to a committee, and reported on, there was no final
action of the conference on either of them, but all things remain as they
were, both in the Discipline and the resolutions of the conference.
There was one other subject which excited a deep interest. An appeal had
come up from a member of the Missouri conference, appealing from a decision
of said conference condemning him for admitting colored testimony against a
white person. The appeal was sustained, and the decision of the Missouri
conference reversed. As this reversal was considered as sanctioning the
practice of admitting colored testimony against the character of a white
person, the following resolution, offered by Dr. Few, of the Georgia
conference, after a strong and protracted debate, was adopted: —
“That it is inexpedient and unjustifiable for any preacher to permit colored
persons to give testimony against white persons, in any state where they are
denied that privilege in trials of law.”
“The passage of this resolution gave great dissatisfaction to many members
of the conference; and after a variety of expedients had been resorted to,
in vain, to obviate the difficulties which seemed to grow out of it, Bishop
Soule offered the following resolutions, which were adopted by a great
majority, ninety-seven voting in the affirmative and twenty-seven in the
negative: —
1. Resolved, That in the decision of this conference in the case of the
appeal of Rev. Silas Comfort, it is not intended to express or imply
that the testimony of colored persons against white persons, in Church
trials, is either expedient or justifiable in any of the slave-holding
states or territories where the civil laws prohibit such testimony in
trials at law.
2. Resolved, That it is not the intention of this conference, in the
adoption of the resolution of Rev. Ignatius A. Few, of Georgia, in
regard to the admission of the testimony of colored people, to prohibit
such testimony in Church trials in any of the states or territories
where it is the established usage of the Church to admit, and when, in
the judgment of the constitutional judicatories of the Church, such
testimony may be admitted with safety to the peace of society, and the
best interests of all concerned.
3. Resolved, That it is not the intention of this conference, in either of
the above cases, or in any action had by this body, to express or imply
any distrust, or want of confidence in the Christian piety and integrity
of the numerous body of colored members under our pastoral care, to whom
we are bound by the bonds of the gospel of Christ, and for whose
spiritual and eternal interests, together with all our fellow-men of
every color, and in every relation and condition in life, we will never
cease to labor.”
The subject of temperance was again discussed, at great length and with
lively interest; and although a memorial had been sent the rounds of the
several annual conferences, praying for the substitution of Mr. Wesley’s
rule in the place of the one now in the Discipline; and although, out of the
two thousand and eighty who were present and voted on the resolutions
praying for and authorizing the General Conference to make the alteration,
one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four voted in the affirmative, and
only three hundred and six in the negative; yet the committee to whom the
subject had been submitted reported against the change, because they thought
that the “true grammatical construction of the language of the Discipline
implies that there must be three-fourths of the members of every annual
conference in favor of the contemplated measure, in order that it may be
lawfully carried into effect.” This novel interpretation of the law, though
I believe it was not by any means sanctioned by a majority of the
conference, tended much to defeat the measure so earnestly recommended and
desired by such a large majority of both preachers and people; for when the
vote was taken there were seventy-five for and thirty-eight against it, and
these not being a majority of two-thirds of the whole number of delegates,
the motion was declared lost.
I have already expressed my opinion freely upon the inconclusiveness of the
reasoning of this report. In addition to what is there said, it may be
remarked, that the doctrine would put it into the power of one single annual
conference, and that too the smallest in the Union, to defeat the wishes of
all the rest, though these wishes should be unanimously expressed. And
surely it was never the intention of the General and annual conferences who
proposed and adopted the proviso in the Discipline thus to authorize so
small a minority to rule the whole Church, for this was the very thing they
designed to defeat or to prevent. Several attempts had been made at
preceding conferences to adopt some uniform method by which ministers of
other denominations might be received into the Church and recognized in
their proper character. At this General Conference the following regulations
were adopted: —
Question 1. In what manner shall we receive those ministers who may come to
us from the Wesleyan connection in Europe or Canada?
Answer If they come to us properly accredited from either the British,
Irish, or Canada Conference, they may be received according to such
credentials, provided they give satisfaction to an annual conference of
their willingness to conform to our Church government and usages.
Question 2. How shall we receive those ministers who may offer to unite with
us from other Christian churches?
Answer Those ministers of other evangelical churches who may desire to unite
with our Church, whether as local or itinerant, may be received according to
our usages, on condition of their taking upon them our ordination vows,
without the reimposition of hands, giving satisfaction to an annual
conference of their being in orders, and of their agreement with us in
doctrine, discipline, government, and usages; provided the conference is
also satisfied with their gifts, grace, and usefulness. Whenever any such
minister is received, he shall be furnished with a certificate, signed by
one of our bishops, in the following words, viz.: —
This is to certify, that ____ has been admitted into conference as a
traveling preacher, [or has been admitted as a local preacher on ____
circuit,] he having been ordained to the office of a deacon, (or an elder,
as the case may be,) according to the usages of the ____ church, of which he
has been a member and minister; and he is hereby authorized to exercise the
functions pertaining to his office in the Methodist Episcopal Church, so
long as his life and conversation are such as become the gospel of Christ.
“Given under my hand and seal, at _____ this _____ day of _____ in the year
of our Lord, _____.
Question 3. How shall we receive preachers of other denominations who are
not in orders?
Answer They may be received as licentiates, provided they give satisfaction
to a quarterly, or an annual conference, that they are suitable persons to
exercise the office, and of their agreement with the doctrines, discipline,
government, and usages of our Church.”
The custom of receiving person on trial for six months before they are
admitted into full membership had been made to apply, by the generality of
our preachers, to those who came to us recommended from other churches,
while some had admitted them without this intermediate process. To settle
this question, and to produce uniformity in this branch of the
administration, the rule in relation to receiving members was so altered as
to read as follows: —
“Let none be received into the Church, until they are recommended by a
leader with whom they have met at least six months on trial, and have been
baptized; and shall, on examination by the minister in charge, before the
Church, give satisfactory assurances both of the correctness of their faith,
and their willingness to observe and keep the rules of the Church.
Nevertheless, if a member in good standing in any other orthodox church
shall desire to unite with us, such applicant may, by giving satisfactory
answers to the usual inquiries, be received at once into full fellowship.”
The Sunday School Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church had become
defunct. This had originated partly in an injudicious attempt to amalgamate
the Bible, Tract, and Sunday School Societies together, by which the
business of these several societies might be transacted by one board of
management, and partly from the little control which the parent society
exercised over its auxiliaries and branches, and, I may add also, from the
peculiar manner of our organization in respect to the duty of furnishing
books for sabbath schools. While the boards of other denominations were
responsible for the entire management of all the affairs of the societies
under their supervision, ours had nothing to do with raising money to meet
the expense of publishing books, this, as well as selecting and printing
them, being in the hands of the agency of the Book Concern. In consequence
of this wise arrangement, the managers of the Sunday School Union incurred
but few responsibilities, and had but little to do, while the mingling of
many things together rendered that little perplexing and inefficient.
It must not be supposed, however, that the sabbath school cause had been
suffered to languish. The various societies continued their existence, were
in efficient operation, and the children were regularly taught in nearly all
our congregations, particularly in our large cities and villages; but they
acted independently of each other, and were therefore not connected together
by any general head, or bond of union, except so far as the agency of the
Book Concern exerted its influence in furnishing the books on the cheapest
terms, according to the provisions of the Publishing Fund.
There were supposed to be defects, however, in this system, which ought to
he remedied. To do this, a memorial was presented to this General
Conference, by a number of brethren in the city of New York, praying for the
reorganization of a Sunday School Society according to the principles of a
new constitution which was submitted to the conference. The deliberations
resulted in the adoption of the constitution, and of the following section
in the Discipline: —
Question What shall we do for the rising generation?
Answer
1. Let Sunday schools be formed in all our Congregations where ten children
can be collected for that purpose. And it shall be the special duty of
preachers having charge of circuits and stations, with the aid of the
other preachers, to see that this he done; to engage the co-operation of
as many of our members as they can; to visit the schools as often as
practicable; to preach on the subject of Sunday schools and religious
instruction in each congregation at least once in six months; to lay
before the quarterly conference at each quarterly meeting, to be entered
on its journal, a written statement of the number and state of the
Sunday schools within their respective circuits and stations, and to
make a report of the same to their several annual conferences. Each
quarterly conference shall be deemed a board of managers, having
supervision of all the Sunday schools and Sunday school societies within
its limits, and shall be auxiliary to the Sunday School Union of the
Methodist Episcopal Church; and each annual conference shall report to
said union the number of auxiliaries within its bounds, together with
other facts presented in the annual reports of the preachers as above
directed.
2. It is recommended that each annual conference, where the general state
of the work will allow, request the appointment of a special agent, to
travel throughout its bounds, for the purpose of promoting the interests
of Sunday schools; and his expenses shall be paid out of collections
which he shall be directed to make, or otherwise, as shall be ordered by
the conference.
3. Let our catechisms be used as extensively as possible, both in our
Sunday schools and families; and let the preachers faithfully enforce
upon parents and Sunday school teachers the great importance of
instructing children in the doctrines and duties of our holy religion.
4. It shall be the special duty of the preachers to form Bible classes
wherever they can, for the instruction of larger children and youth; and
where they cannot superintend them personally, to appoint suitable
leaders for that purpose.
5. It shall be the duty of every preacher of a circuit or station to obtain
the names of the children belonging to his congregations, and leave a
list of such names for his successor; and in his pastoral visits he
shall pay special attention to the children, speak to them personally,
and kindly, on experimental and practical godliness, according to their
capacity, pray earnestly for them, and diligently instruct and exhort
all parents to dedicate their children to the Lord in baptism as early
as convenient; and let all baptized children be faithfully instructed in
the nature, design, privileges, and obligations of their baptism. Those
of them who are well disposed may be admitted to our class meetings and
love feasts, and such as are truly serious, and manifest a desire to
flee the wrath to come, shall be advised to join society as
probationers.”
Whether this society will he able to perform the duties and to accomplish
the objects which the other failed to do, remains to be seen. If, however,
the members and managers heartily co-operate with the book agency in the
selection and publication of books, and otherwise carry into practical
effect the spirit and objects of their organization, they will no doubt
render important service to the sabbath school cause.
A very able report was adopted near the conclusion of the conference on the
subject of ordaining ministers in slave-holding states who own slaves, and
will not liberate them from their bondage. This arose out of the practice of
the Baltimore conference in refusing to ordain some local preachers, who
lived in the state of Virginia, where they pleaded that the laws would not
permit emancipation.
As this subject had never before been so fully investigated, and as the
report, dawn up by Dr. Bascom, very clearly unfolds the principles by which
the Church has ever been governed upon this grave and important question, I
think the reader will be pleased to have the entire report before him. It is
as follows: —
“The committee, to whom was referred the memorial and appeal of some fifteen
official members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Westmoreland circuit,
Baltimore conference, on the subject of alleged withholdment of right from a
portion of the local ministry within the limits of that conference, and to
when was likewise referred the report of the judiciary committee upon a
similar remonstrance from the same division of the Baltimore conference,
signed by about thirty official members of the Church, and addressed to the
General Conference in 1836, after giving to the subject the attention its
obvious importance demands, beg leave to report the following as the result
of their deliberations: —
“The particular portion, or rather general section of country in which these
remonstrances have their origin, although belonging to the Baltimore
conference, is found within the limits of the state of Virginia; and the
memorialists represent in strong but respectful terms, that local preachers
within the jurisdiction of the Baltimore conference, but residing in the
commonwealth of Virginia, have, in considerable numbers, and for a
succession of years, been rejected as applicants for deacon’s and elders
orders in the ministry, solely on the ground of their being slave-holders,
or the owners of slaves. In the memorials referred to it is distinctly
stated, that election and ordination have been withheld from the applicants
in question on no other ground or pretense than that of their being the
owners of slave property; and it is further argued that the Baltimore
conference avows this to be the only reason of the course they pursue, and
which is complained of by the petitioners. The appellants allege further,
that the laws of Virginia relating to slavery forbid emancipation, except
under restrictions, and subject to contingencies amounting, to all intents
and purposes, to a prohibition; and that the Discipline of the Church having
provided for the ordination of ministers thus circumstanced, the course
pursued by the Baltimore conference operates as an abridgment of right, and
therefore furnishes just ground of complaint. The memorialists regard
themselves as clearly entitled to the protection of the well-known
provisional exception to the general rule on this subject found in the
Discipline; and assume with confidence, and argue with firmness and ability,
that no other objection being found to the character of candidates for
ordination, it is a departure from the plain intendment of the law in the
case, and a violation of not less express compact than of social justice, to
withhold ordination for reasons which the provisions of the law plainly
declare are not to be considered as a forfeiture of right. It is set forth
in the argument of the appellants, that, attaching themselves to the Church
as citizens of Virginia, where, in the obvious sense of the Discipline,
emancipation is impracticable, the holding of slaves, or failure to
emancipate them, cannot be plead in bar to the right of ordination, as is
the ease in states where emancipation, as defined and qualified by the rule
in the case, is found to be practicable. In the latter ease the question is
within the jurisdiction of the Church, inasmuch as the holding or not
holding of property of this kind depends not upon the constitution and
regulation of civil property, but upon the will and purpose of individuals.
Under such circumstances the conduct in question is voluntary, and in every
final sense the result of choice. In the former, however, where emancipation
is resisted by the prohibition of law, it may be otherwise and in many
instances is known to be resulting entirely from the involuntary relations
and circumstances of individuals connected with the very structure of civil
polity, and the force and array of public opinion and popular interest. The
memorialists advert to the fact, that we have in the Discipline two distinct
classes of legislative provision in relation to slavery — the one applying
to owners of slaves where emancipation is practicable, consistently with the
interests of master and slaves, and the other where it is impracticable
without endangering such safety, and these interests on the part of both.
With the former, known as the general rule on this subject, the petitioners
do not interfere in any way, and are content simply to place themselves
under the protection of the latter as contracting parties with the Church;
and the ground of complaint is that the Church has failed to redeem the
pledge of its own laws, by refusing or failing to promote to office
ministers, in whose case no disability attaches on the ground of slavery,
because the disability attaching in other cases is here removed by special
provision of law, and so far leaves the right to ordination clear and
undoubted, and hence the complaint against the Baltimore conference. In
further prosecution of the duty assigned them, your committee have carefully
examined the law, and inquired into the system of slavery as it exists in
Virginia, and find the representation of the memorialists essentially
correct. The conditions with which emancipation is burdened in that
commonwealth preclude the practicability of giving freedom to slaves as
contemplated in the Discipline, except in extremely rare instances say one
in a thousand, and possibly not more than one in five thousand. The
exception in the Discipline is therefore strictly applicable to all the
ministers and members of the Methodist Episcopal Church holding slaves in
Virginia, and they appear clearly entitled to the benefit of the rule made
and provided in such cases.
“As emancipation under such circumstances is not a requirement of
Discipline, it cannot be made a condition of eligibility to office. An
appeal to the policy and practice of the Church for fifty years past will
show incontestably, that, whatever may have been the convictions of the
Church with regard to this great evil, the nature and tendency of the system
of slavery, it has never insisted upon emancipation in contravention of
civil authority; and it therefore appears to be a well-settled and
long-established principle in the polity of the Church that no
ecclesiastical disabilities are intended to ensue either to the ministers or
members of the Church in those states where the civil authority forbids
emancipation. The general rule therefore distinctly and invariably requiring
emancipation as the ground of right, and the condition of claim to
ordination where the laws of the several states admit of emancipation, and
permit the liberated slave to enjoy freedom, and which, in the judgment of
your committee, should always be carried into effect with unyielding
firmness, does not apply to your memorialists, and cannot by any fair
construction of law affect their rights.
“On the other hand, your committee have given the most careful consideration
to the position of the Baltimore conference complained of by the appellants.
The journals of the several sessions of the Baltimore conference, for a
series of years, have been carefully examined, and found to be silent on the
subject of the rejections in question, except the single statement that A,
B, and C, from time to time, applied for admission or orders, and were
rejected. We find no rule or reason of action, no evidence of preconception,
no grounds or reasons of rejection, stated in any form, directly or
indirectly. Nothing of this kind is avowed in, or found upon the face of the
journals of that body. The charge of particular motives, it occurs to your
committee, cannot be sustained in the instance of a deliberative body, say
the Baltimore conference, unless it appears in evidence that the motives
have been avowed by a majority of the conference; and it is not in proof
that the conference has ever had an action to this effect, whatever may have
been the declaration of individuals sustaining the charge of the appellants.
The fact charged without reference to motives, that there has been a long
list of rejections, both as it regards admission into the traveling
connection and ordination, until the exception seems to be made a general
rule, is undoubtedly true, and is not denied by the defendants. The
evidence, however, in relation to specific reasons and motives is defective,
and does not appear to sustain the charge of a contravention of right by any
direct accredited action of the Baltimore conference had in the premises.
“That this view of the subject presents a serious difficulty is felt by your
committee, and must be so by all. The rule applicable in this case allows an
annual conference to act under the circumstances; but does not, and from the
very nature and ubiquity of the case, cannot require it. Among the
unquestioned constitutional rights of our annual conferences is that of
acting freely, without any compulsory direction, in the exercise of
individual franchise. Election here is plainly an assertion of personal
right on the part of the different members composing the body, with regard
to which the claim to question or challenge motives does not belong even to
the General Conference, unless the result has turned upon avowed
considerations unknown to the law and rule in the case. The journal of the
conference is the only part of its history of which this body has
cognizance, and to extend such cognizance to the reasons and motives of
individual members of conferences not declared to be the ground of action by
a majority, would be to establish a rule at once subversive of the rights
and independence of annual conferences. In the very nature of the case an
annual conference must possess the right of free and uncontrolled
determination, not only in the choice of its members, but in all its
elections, and keeping within the limits and restrictions of its charter as
found in the Discipline, can only be controlled in the exercise of such
right by moral and relative considerations, connected with the intelligence
and interests of the body.
“The memorialists prayed the last General Conference, and they again ask
this to interfere authoritatively by change or construction of rule so as to
afford relief; and in failure to do so in the memorial of 1836, they ask to
be set off to the Virginia conference, as the only remaining remedy. In
their present petition they are silent on the subject of a transfer to
Virginia. Under all the circumstances of the case, and taking into the
account the probabilities of future action in the premises, your committee
cannot but regard this as the only conclusive remedy. But how far this may
be considered as relatively practicable, or whether advisable in view of all
the interests involved, the committee have no means of determining, and
therefore leave it to the judgment of those who have. That the petitioners,
in accordance with the provisions of the Discipline, whether said provisions
be right or wrong, are entitled to remedy, your committee cannot for a
moment doubt, inasmuch as they are laboring, and have been for years, under
practical disabilities actually provided against by the Discipline of the
Church. The alleged grievance is by the petitioners themselves regarded as
one of administration, not of law. No change of legislation is asked for,
unless this body prefer it; and it does not appear to your committee to he
called for by any view of the subject they have been able to take.
“Your committee are unwilling to close the brief view of this subject,
without anxiously suggesting that, as it is one of the utmost importance,
and intense delicacy in its application and bearings throughout our entire
country, involving in greater or less degree the hopes and fears, the
anxieties and interests of millions, it must be expected that great variety
of opinions and diversity of conviction and feeling will be found to exist
in relation to it, and most urgently call for the exercise of mutual
forbearance and reciprocal good will on the part of all concerned. May not
the principles and causes, giving birth and perpetuity to great moral and
political systems or institutions be regarded as evil, even essentially evil
in every primary aspect of the subject, without the implication of moral
obliquity on the part of those involuntarily connected with such systems and
institutions, and providentially involved in their operation and
consequences? May not a system of this kind be jealously regarded as in
itself more or less inconsistent with natural right, and moral rectitude,
without the imputation of guilt and derelict motive, in the instance of
those who, without any choice or purpose of their own, are necessarily
subjected to its influence and sway?
“Can it be considered as just or reasonable to hold individuals responsible
for the destiny of circumstances over which they have no control?, Thus
conditioned in the organic arrangements and distributions of society, is
there any necessary connection between the moral character of the individual
and that of the system? In this way the modifying influence of unavoidable
agencies or circumstances in the formation of character is a well-known
principle, and one of universal recognition in law, morals, and religion,
and upon which all administration of law, not unjust and oppressive, must
proceed. And your committee know of no reason why the rule is inapplicable,
or should not obtain, in relation to the subject of this report. In
conclusion, the committee would express the deliberate opinion that, while
the general rule on the subject of slavery, relating to those states only
whose laws admit of emancipation, and permit the liberated slave to enjoy
freedom, should be firmly and constantly enforced, the exception to the
general rule applying to those states where emancipation, as defined above,
is not practicable, should be recognized and protected with equal firmness
and impartiality. The committee respectfully suggest to the conference the
propriety of adopting the following resolution: —
“Resolved, by the delegates of the several annual conferences in General
Conference assembled, That, under the provisional exception of the general
rule of the Church on the subject of slavery, the simple holding of slaves,
or mere ownership of slave property, in states or territories here the laws
do not admit of emancipation and permit the liberated slave to enjoy
freedom, constitutes no legal barrier to the election or ordination of
ministers to the various grades of office known in the ministry of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and cannot, therefore, be considered as
operating any forfeiture of right in view of such election and
ordination.”
It will be seen by a reference to the address of the managers of our
Missionary Society, that they prayed for certain alterations in its
constitution. After considerable debate, provision was made for the election
of two additional secretaries, and likewise empowering the managers to
provide for the widows and orphan children of such missionaries as have
fallen in foreign missionary work where an annual conference has hen or may
he found, inasmuch as they had no claim upon the ordinary funds of the
annual conferences. And the general report of the conference regarding
missions gave an encouraging view of the great and growing missionary field
of labor, and invited preachers and people to a united and vigorous
prosecution of this holy and benevolent enterprise.
A memorial was presented to the conference by the secretary of the American
Colonization Society, which was referred to a committee, and the following
report was adopted almost unanimously: —
“That, after mature deliberation, we are convinced that the American
Colonization Society is deserving the patronage and support of the entire
Christian community as exerting a most beneficial influence upon the colored
population of our own country, and more especially upon the inhabitants of
Africa, particularly the colonists of Liberia, and the neighboring native
tribes. It is chiefly however, as Christians, and as Christian ministers,
that we view this enterprise favorably, on account of the facilities which
it affords to the Christian missionary to extend the blessings of the gospel
to that benighted portion of our globe. The success which has already
attended our missions in that country is, to us, a sure indication that
Providence designs to make Liberia a means of enlightening Africa with the
light of salvation, as well as a place of refuge for the distressed. With
these views the committee respectfully recommend to the conference the
adoption of the following: —
1. Resolved, by the delegates of the several annual conferences in General
Conference assembled, That we view with favor the efforts which are now
making by the American Colonization Society to build up a colony on the
coast of Liberia with free people of color by their own consent.
2. Resolved, That the success which has hitherto attended this noble and
philanthropic enterprise is a sure pledge that, if still prosecuted with
wisdom and energy, it will be rendered a great blessing, not only to the
colonies themselves, but also to the vast population of Africa, now
enveloped in heathenish darkness.
3. Resolved, That we recommend this society to the attention and patronage
of our brethren and friends; and that the several annual conferences
which may feel themselves free to aid this enterprise of benevolence to
the souls and bodies of people of color, both in our own country and in
Africa be, and hereby are affectionately advised and requested to adopt
such measures as they may think suitable to promote its objects, by
taking up collections on or about the fourth of July in each year.”
Much inconvenience had been experienced in some of the conferences in
consequence of supernumerary preachers leaving their stations with a view to
become agents for societies not in connection with our Church, and which, in
some instances, even operated against the peace and harmony of the body. To
prevent evils of this character, the following clause was inserted in the
Discipline: —
“A supernumerary preacher who refuses to attend to the work assigned him,
unless in case of sickness or other unavoidable cause or causes, shall not
be allowed to exercise the functions of his office, nor even to preach among
us; nevertheless, the final determination of the case shall be with the
annual conference of which he is a member, who shall have power to acquit,
suspend, locate, or expel him, as the case may be.”
The rule incorporated in the Discipline at the last General Conference
respecting the trial of superannuated preachers who reside out of the bounds
of their respective conferences, was found inadequate to its object, as it
was impossible to arrest the progress of a disorderly person who might
choose to evade the rule, if justified in his course by the conference to
which he belonged. This conference, therefore, so amended the rule as to
make it read as follows: —
“If the accused be a superannuated preacher, living out of the bounds of the
conference of which he is a member, he shall be held responsible to the
annual conference within whose bounds he may reside, who shall have power to
try, acquit, suspend, locate, or expel him, in the same manner as if he were
a member of said conference.”
These comprehend all the important acts of the conference. There were, to be
sure, several verbal alterations in some portions of the Discipline, which,
however, do not materially alter the sense, or any principle of the
government. The motion for a complete revision of the Discipline, so as to
harmonize its several parts, to make a more systematical arrangement of its
sections, and to correct the phraseology, which had become, in consequence
of haste or negligence, somewhat unintelligible, notwithstanding its obvious
necessity, was lost, chiefly because the object of the mover was
misapprehended. It is hoped, however, that such a revision will yet be made,
as it would add greatly to the perspicuity of the Discipline, and prevent
much of that discordant administration which arises from the ambiguity of
the law in certain cases.
Before the conference adjourned, Bishop Soule was appointed to attend as a
representative to the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in 1842, and he
nominated Thomas B. Sargeant to accompany him, and the nomination was
confirmed by the conference. Bishop Hedding was requested to attend the
Canada Conference, or, in the event of his being unable to go, the bishops
were authorized to select a person for that service.
The following is the pastoral address: —
“Dearly Beloved Brethren, — As the representatives of the several annual
conferences in General Conference assembled, we assume the pleasing duty of
addressing to you our Christian salutations: ‘Grace be unto you, and peace
from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ,’ both now and for ever.
“In reviewing the history of the past four years, while we see some
occasions for humiliation before God, we see much in the dealings of our
heavenly Father with us which calls aloud for gratitude and praise. The
unwelcome and startling fact of a diminution of the numbers in society had
awakened in our minds great solicitude. Fearing lest we had so far departed
from our original purity of character as to be cursed with barrenness, and
to give place to others whom God would constitute more appropriate
instruments in achieving the moral renovation of the world, we sent up our
cry to heaven,’ Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to
reproach.’ At this point in our history we very justly concluded that
instead of indulging in fruitless speculations upon the causes which had
brought about this state of things, it became us to gird ourselves for new
exertions, and to look up to the great head of the Church for a renewed and
signal manifestation of his power and grace, to raise the fainting spirits
and cheer the trembling hearts of the armies of our Israel. And how
wonderfully have our efforts been succeeded! Truly may we say, ‘In a little
wrath he hid his face from us, for a moment, but with everlasting
kindness’ has he had ‘mercy upon us.’
“Within the last year the state of the American Methodist Church has assumed
a most interesting and cheering aspect. The spirit of grace and supplication
has been poured out upon her, and her converts have been greatly multiplied.
Extensive and powerful revivals have been reported through our excellent
periodicals, from almost every point of the wide field occupied by our
regular itinerant ministry, or by our missionaries. Multitudes of fallen and
miserable men have been happily renovated and brought within the pale of the
Church. Many desolate and barren fields have become as the garden of the
Lord; presenting to the gaze of the world the variegated tints of moral
beauty, sending up to heaven the sweet odors of pure devotion, and yielding
the precious fruits of righteousness, to the glory and honor of God.
“The first centenary of Methodism has brought with it a state of great
enlargement and prosperity. The pious zeal which you exhibited in the
appropriate celebration of this new era in our history, and the liberal
offerings you presented to the Church, exhibit a praiseworthy regard for her
institutions, and doubtless constitute a sacrifice with which God is well
pleased. Though, on this interesting occasion, you did no more than was your
duty to do, God blessed you in the deed, having brought your tithes into the
storehouse of the Lord, and proved him therewith, he has poured you out a
blessing that there is scarcely room to contain.
“It affords us great pleasure to witness the strong tendency which develops
itself among the Methodists to adhere to the peculiar principles which have
characterized them from the beginning, and to remain one and indissoluble.
Though some have entered into ‘doubtful disputations,’ and a few of our
societies have been hurtfully agitated, yet to the honor of our enlightened
membership, and to the glory of God, would we at this time express our
solemn conviction that the great mass of our people have remained ‘firm as a
wall of brass’ ‘midst the commotions of conflicting elements. There seems at
this moment far less occasion to fear from the causes of dissension than
there was at the last meeting of this conference. Indeed, brethren, we have
no doubt but if we all continue to ‘walk by the same rule, and to mind the
same things,’ in which in the order of God we have been instructed, ‘the
gates of hell shall not prevail against us,’ and the enemy who would divide
and scatter, in order to destroy us, will be dis appointed.
“Since the commencement of the present session of the General Conference,
memorials have been presented principally from the northern and eastern
divisions of the work, some praying for the action of the conference on the
subject of slavery, and others asking for radical changes in the economy of
the Church. The results of the deliberations of the committees to whom these
memorials had a respectful reference, and the final action of the conference
upon them, may be seen among the doings of this body, as reported and
published. The issue in several instances is probably different from what
the memorialists may have thought they had reason to expect. But it is to be
hoped they will not suppose the General Conference has either denied them
any legitimate right, or been wanting in a proper respect for their
opinions. Such is the diversity of habits of thought, manners, customs, and
domestic relations among the people of this vast republic, and such the
diversity of the institutions of the sovereign states of the confederacy,
that it is not to be supposed an easy task to suit all the incidental
circumstances of our economy to the views and feelings of the vast mass of
minds interested. We pray, therefore, that brethren whose views may have
been crossed by the acts of this conference will at least give us the credit
of having acted in good faith, and of not having regarded private ends or
party interests, but the best good of the whole family of American
Methodists.
“Radical changes in our economy are conceived to be fraught with danger.
After having so long, and under such a variety of circumstances, proved the
efficiency of our existing institutions, we conceive that it is now no time
to go into untried experiments. The leading features of our excellent Book
of Discipline, we have every reason to believe, commend themselves alike to
the enlightened judgments and to the pious feelings of the great mass of our
people. Upon this subject they hold the sentiment expressed in the language
of our Lord: ‘No man having drunk old wine, straightway desireth new, for he
saith the old is better.’ They desire to continue on in the same tried path,
and preserve, in its simplicity and purity, Methodism as we received it from
our fathers. With these convictions, we should prove recreant to the trust
committed to us were we in the slightest degree to yield to the spirit of
innovation.
“After this free expression of our views and feelings in relation to those
great interests which naturally come under review in such a communication,
will you, brethren, permit us, as your pastors and servants, for Jesus’
sake, to ’stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance,’ in relation to
several important duties, which at the present time especially demand your
utmost care and diligence?
1. In addition to the ordinary means of grace to which we are bound to
attend as Christians, there are certain duties which are obligatory on
us as Methodists; among these are our class meetings and love feasts.
Numerous melancholy instances have proved that these means cannot be
wantonly neglected by our people without the loss of their religious
comfort, a total paralysis of their spiritual energies, and utter
uselessness i the Church. As you then desire to be useful, to be happy,
and to glorify God in this life and that which is to come, we beseech
you, brethren, never for a moment to decline in your attention to these
precious means of grace.
2. Exercise the utmost vigilance and care over the moral and religious
training of the rising generation. In a very few days we shall be with
our fathers: and it is for us now to say what influence our children
shall exert upon the condition of society, and the destinies of the
world, when we are no more. Give your infant offspring to God in holy
baptism. When they are of sufficient age, put them into the sabbath
school, impart to them personal religious instruction, pray incessantly
for their conversion and salvation, and by all means, if possible, give
them the advantages of the excellent institutions of learning which have
been reared by your benevolent and praiseworthy exertions.
3. We would also apprise you who are heads of families, of the vast
importance of supplying those committed to your trust with such reading
as will have a tendency to make them wiser and better. Preoccupy their
attention with our excellent books and periodicals, and to the utmost of
your power guard them against the dreadful tide of froth and corruption
which is making such ravages upon the intellectual and moral character
of the age, under the general title of novels. These publications, with
very few exceptions, like the dreadful sirocco, blast, and wither, and
destroy wherever they come. Superinducing a state of intellectual
languor, and blunting the moral feelings, they prepare the young mind
for the more open and decided demonstrations of error, in the various
forms of infidelity, or make it an easy prey to the seductions of vice.
Recollect that ‘to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.’ Take
care, then, to supply the appropriate aliment of the mind in sufficient
variety and abundance, that there may be left no opening for the
entrance of these mischievous agents.
4. We furthermore exhort you, brethren, not to forget the high and holy
object of our organization. We profess to be ‘a company of men having
the form and seeking the power of godliness; united in order to pray
together, to receive the word of exhortation, and to help each other
work out their salvation.’ We are a voluntary association, organized, as
we believe, according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, for purposes
of a purely spiritual nature. It was with reference to our mutual
spiritual edification that we struck hands before God’s altar, and gave
to each other pledges of future fidelity. Let us then labor to the
utmost to do each other good, praying for one another, ‘bearing each
others burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ,’ ‘forgiving one
another if any have a quarrel against another.’ Our obligations to these
duties we took upon ourselves voluntarily, and under the most solemn
circumstances. Can we then lightly cast them off, or claim them at the
hands of others, when we will not discharge them ourselves’ Nay,
brethren, they are mutual, perpetual, inviolable.
5. We exhort and beseech you, brethren, by the tender mercies of our God,
that you strive for the ‘mind that was in Christ Jesus.’ Be not content
with mere childhood in religion; but, ‘having the principles of the
doctrines of Christ, go on unto perfection.’ The doctrine of entire
sanctification constitutes a leading feature of original Methodism. But
let us not suppose it enough to have this doctrine in our standards: let
us labor to have the experience and the power of it in our hearts. Be
assured, brethren, that if our influence and usefulness as a religious
community, depend upon one thing more than any other, it is upon our
carrying out the great doctrine of sanctification in our life and
conversation. When we fail to do this, then shall we lose our
pre-eminence; and the halo of glory which surrounded the heads, and lit
up the path of our sainted fathers, will have departed from their
unworthy sons. O brethren, let your motto be, ‘holiness to the Lord.’
‘And may the God of peace sanctify you wholly, and we pray God, that
your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who
also will do it.’
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are
honest, whatsoever things are just, what soever things are pure, whatsoever
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any
virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.’ And now, we ‘commend
you to God and the word of his grace, who is able to build you up, and to
give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified.’ AMEN.”
On the evening of Wednesday, June 3, the conference adjourned to meet again
in the city of New York, May 1, 1844. At an early period of the session of
this conference a resolution prevailed to employ a reporter to take down the
proceedings of the conference, that they might be published weekly in the
Christian Advocate and Journal, and the other papers published under the
direction of the General Conference. The following is the reporter’s account
of the closing of the conference: —
“A motion being made to adjourn sine die, Bishop Soule addressed the
conference:
“Dear Brethren, — Under any other circumstances than those in which we are
now placed, I should esteem it a high privilege, as well as a solemn duty,
to offer you an extended parting salutation. But the extreme lateness of the
hour requires that we should close our session without further delay.
Indulge me a few, and but a few, moments.
“It has afforded me much pleasure to witness so little improper excitement.
I do not recollect that I ever attended a conference in which I saw less.
While great difference of opinion has existed on various subjects, I rejoice
to have seen exhibited, universally, so much brotherly kindness and
affection. I am more especially rejoiced in the firm persuasion, the
steadfast belief, that great and important principles have been investigated
and established, destined to exert a most salutary influence on our future
prospects, our peace, and our unity. In this I do rejoice, and I will
rejoice.
“And now in separating, to carry out the measures here adopted — to further
the cause of God with renewed zeal and energy — I entreat brethren to
refrain rigidly from all unkind expressions in regard to each other; and to
be careful how, as members of this body, they pass their animadversions,
publicly or privately, upon its acts. It becomes us to speak, if we speak at
all, with great respect and due deference for the opinions of those who have
acted under responsibilities so vast and momentous.
“Let us keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace.
“And may the God of all grace continue to strengthen our union, until we
shall see the accomplishment of the great design for which Methodism was
raised up, viz.: to spread Scriptural holiness all over these lands.
“The bishop then read that admirable and appropriate hymn, commencing —
‘And let our bodies part, To different climes repair; Inseparably joined in
heart The friends of Jesus are.’
“The whole body, together with a considerable audience, joined solemnly in
singing these sacred lines; after which the venerable bishop addressed the
throne of grace, amidst the responses, the tears, and the sighs bursting
from the heaving bosoms of the conference and the audience.
“The conference then, at ten minutes past one o’clock, Thursday morning,
June 4, adjourned sine die.
“Thus closed the Centenary General Conference, after the most protracted,
the most interesting, and, to human judgment, the most auspicious session
ever held. May its deliberations redound to the glory of God and the good of
the Church. The Church! Esto perpetua.”
_________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 16
Methodist Book Concern
I. Historical sketch of the Concern. — In vol. i, where a short notice is
given of the origin of the Book Concern, I promised to give a more detailed
account of this useful establishment in a subsequent part of the History. I
shall now attempt to redeem this pledge, although my space will not allow of
a very particular and extended account.
As is there stated, at a very early period of his ministry, Mr. Wesley
established a printing office, and in 1778 commenced the publication of the
Arminian Magazine, in which he vindicated the doctrines taught by that
distinguished divine, James Arminius, so far as they coincided with what he
believed the truth as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and likewise the
doctrine and usages promulgated and adopted by himself and his brother,
Charles Wesley. This publication, together with a variety of tracts and
volumes on religious, philosophical, and scientific subjects, have done
immense good to the community in Great Britain and other parts of the world;
and the Wesleyan connection in England has produced some of the first
writers of the age, such as Clarke, Benson, Watson, and many others of less
note, but equally indefatigable in spreading light and truth by means of the
press. The Magazine, filled with a vast variety of the most useful
knowledge, has been continued, gradually enlarging its dimensions, and c
hanging ifs name to the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, to the present time,
making in all no less than sixty-three volumes, of from six hundred to
upward of nine hundred pages each.
In the early days of Methodism in this country, our people were furnished
with books from England, and they were distributed among them by the
itinerant preachers, the cost of the first purchase being transmitted to Mr.
Wesley to assist in keeping up a constant supply. This method, however, of
obtaining the needful books became very troublesome and expensive, and
measures were adopted by Dr. Coke, on his arrival in America, to remedy the
evil by procuring the republication of such small tracts and sermons,
together with a hymn-book, as the growing wants of the people seemed to
demand.
The first account I find in the Minutes of the conferences of a book steward
is in the year 1789, and John Dickens, then stationed in Philadelphia, where
the Book Concern was begun, was the first editor and agent. It appears that
when the business was commenced, being but small, and requiring but a
portion of the time of the agent for that particular work, he was at the
same time the stationed preacher in the city of Philadelphia, there then
being but one in the city.
By referring to the books of the agency; the first entry in the handwriting
of John Dickens is under date of August 17, 1789, and it appears that the
first book which printed was Mr. Wesley’s edition of “A Kempis,” a little
devotional work, written by a Roman Catholic, breathing the true spirit of
piety, and containing the most pure and exalted sentiments of Christianity.
In the same year was issued the first volume of the Arminian Magazine, being
chiefly a reprint of pieces which had appeared in its prototype in England,
but containing also some accounts of the work of God in America, and other
miscellaneous matters of an edifying character. The Methodist Discipline,
Saints’ Everlasting Rest, a hymn-book and Mr. Wesley’s Primitive Physic,
were all published in the same year.
This was a small beginning, but it was quite equal to the means then at
command; for it appears that there were no funds in hand to begin with,
except a small amount, about six hundred dollars, which John Dickens lent to
the Concern to enable it to begin its benevolent operations.
In 1790, some portions of Fletcher’s Checks, much needed at die time, and
the second volume of the Arminian Magazine, made their appearance. In this
small way the number of books was gradually increased tinder the skillful
management of John Dickens, a man of inestimable worth as a Christian
minister, and of great prudence, industry, and fidelity in this particular
work. To assist him in his labor, and to guard, as far as possible, the
purity of the press, a book committee was appointed in 1797, to whom all
works were to be submitted before they were published, except such as were
ordered by the General Conference; and the first committee consisted of
Ezekiel Cooper, Thomas Ware, John McClasky, Christopher Spry, William
McLennan, Charles Cavender, Richard Swain,. and Solomon Sharp. From that day
to this a book committee, with similar powers, has been appointed from year
to year, tinder the direction of the General Conference, which reports the
state of the Concern every year to the annual conference in the bounds of
which the Concern is located, and every four years to the General
Conference.
John Dickens continued in the superintendence of the book business until
1798, when he died in peace and triumph, of the malignant fever which then
raged with terrible destruction in the city of Philadelphia. His death was
feelingly lamented by all who knew him, for he was a minister of Jesus
Christ, of great power and usefulness, much beloved and respected by all who
knew him, and had been very successful in printing and circulating books of
the most useful character.
In 1799, Ezekiel Cooper, who still lives, was appointed editor and general
book steward. The Concern is greatly indebted to his skillful management for
its increasing usefulness, as at the end of his term, in 1808, its capital
stock had increased, from almost nothing in the beginning, to about
forty-five thousand dollars. In 1804, the Concern was removed from
Philadelphia to the city of New York, where Ezekiel Cooper continued its
superintendence until 1808, being assisted by John Wilson for the last four
years. At the General Conference of 1808 Mr. Cooper resigned his office, the
conference giving him a vote of thanks for the faithful and successful
manner in which he had discharged his duty, and was succeeded by John Wilson
as principal, and Daniel Hitt as an assistant editor and book steward. At
this General Conference, on the recommendation of Mr. Cooper, the term of
service in the agency was limited to eight years, a regulation which was
afterward found to be attended with many inconveniences, so much so that in
1836 the rule was abrogated.
Up to this time the agents received a station, the same as the other
preachers, and were held responsible for the double duties of agents of the
Book Concern and of stationed ministers, though they were relieved from much
of their pastoral labors by their colleagues in the ministry. In 1808 they
were entirely released from pastoral labors, only so far as they might be
able to preach on Sabbaths, and occasionally on other days, that their time
and attention might be more exclusively devoted to the interests of the
Concern, in editing and publishing books; — a wise regulation, as has been
tested by many years of experience.
On the 28th of January, 1810, John Wilson, who had been long afflicted with
an obstinate asthma, died suddenly of that inveterate disease, in the full
assurance of faith. He was indeed a most estimable man, a faithful minister,
a skillful and diligent book agent, and was greatly beloved and sincerely
respected by his brethren and friends. From the time of his lamented death
until the General Conference of 1812, the business was carried on by Daniel
Hitt alone, but by no means in so prosperous a way as it had been conducted
heretofore. In 1812, however, he was elected the principal, and Thomas Ware
the assistant editor and book steward; and the General Conference ordered
the resumption of the Magazine in monthly numbers; but neither this order
was obeyed, nor were the hopes of the friends of the establishment at all
realized by the increasing prosperity of the Concern from 1812 to 1816. This
fault, however, is not attributable to the want of good intentions or
fidelity in the agents, but chiefly, I believe, for the lack of skill and
harmony in its general management.
In 1816, Joshua Soule and Thomas Mason entered upon the duties of this
agency. They found the Concern much embarrassed with debt, with but scanty
means to liquidate it, the number and variety of publications small, and the
general aspect of things was quite discouraging. They, however, applied
themselves to their work with prudence and diligence, and succeeded in
keeping it from sinking under its own weight, and of infusing new energy
into some of its departments, by increasing the variety of its publications,
and lessening the amount of its debts.
In 1818, the order for resuming the publication of the Magazine, which had
been made again by the General Conference of 1816, was carried into effect,
agreeably to the desire, and to the joy of thousands. Indeed, the appearance
of this periodical, filled as it was with useful matter, was generally
hailed with delight by the members of our Church, as the harbinger of
brighter days, especially in regard to the revival of literature and sound
knowledge among us as a people though it must be confessed that there were
some then, who would even sneer at this most laudable attempt to diffuse
useful knowledge and Scriptural piety, by means of the press. I could relate
many anecdotes in confirmation of this statement, as dishonorable to their
authors as they were mortifying to the more enlightened friends of the
Church. But, as the day is passed, let these “times of ignorance” be “winked
at” and forgotten, from the joy that a more bright and vigorous state of
things has so happily succeeded.
In 1820, Nathan Hang’s succeeded Joshua Soule, and Thomas Mason was
re-elected an assistant. He found the Concern still laboring under a heavy
debt, and was often much embarrassed to meet the demands upon its resources.
After looking at things as attentively and impartially as possible, he said
to his colleague, “We must increase our debt, with a view to add to the
number and variety of our publications, or we never shall succeed in
answering public expectation, or of putting the Concern in a prosperous
condition.” They went to work accordingly, and commenced with Benson’s
Commentary, Clarke’s Wesley Family, Lady Maxwell, and other works of smaller
dimensions; and they likewise introduced into our catalogue, philosophical,
historical, philological, and scientific works, by exchanging, and by taking
parts of editions as publishers conjointly with other publishers; and with a
view to rid the Concern of many old and unsaleable books on hand, the prices
were lowered, by which means many books that had lain useless upon our
shelves were put in circulation. Still, for the want of more experience,
many blunders were committed, which were afterward either corrected or
avoided. And though by these appliances the debt was augmented, resources to
meet the pecuniary demands were created, and by maintaining our credit, we
could always obtain money when it was needed.
In 1823 the Youth’s Instructor, a monthly periodical designed for the
special benefit of youth, was commenced, and for some years it had a very
extensive circulation, and I believe did much to increase the taste for
reading, and to raise the tone of an enlightened piety.
Very soon after the General Conference of 1820 measures were adopted, in
conformity to its order, for the publication of a revised edition of the
hymn-book, and also of a tune-book, containing tunes suited to the great
variety of metres in which our most excellent hymns were composed. Hitherto,
for the want, of such tunes, many of these hymns, the poetry and
spirituality of which are of unrivaled energy and beauty, were left unsung
by most of our congregations, and therefore stood useless in the hymn-book.
Nor was the hymn-book before in use much less defective. Some of the hymns
had been marred in unskillful hands by alterations and mutilations, while
others, which had edified thousands in Europe by their strong, deep, and
spiritual sentiments and highly poetical character, had never been
introduced into our worshipping assemblies. These defects were now in a
great measure supplied by the publication of these editions of the hymn and
tune books; and since then the art of singing, that most useful and
animating part of divine worship, has been gradually improving among the
members and friends of our Church.
Up to this time all our printing and binding had been done by the job, on
such terms as could be agreed upon with the different printers and binders
who did the work. In the year 1821 we were strongly urged to establish a
bindery and printing office. After considering the subject for some time, it
was finally concluded to make an experiment first with a bindery, and if
this succeeded according to expectations, a printing office could be
established at a future time. Accordingly the basement story of the Wesleyan
Seminary in Crosby Street was rented, a competent binder employed, and the
bindery went into operation in 1822.
At the General Conference of 1824, the constitutional term of Thomas Meson
having expired, John Emory was elected as an assistant to Nathan Bangs. Soon
after, having tested the beneficial consequences of having a bindery under
our own control, the principal, who had great confidence in the intelligence
of his assistant, proposed the establishment of a printing office; and after
maturely considering the subject, committing with the book committee and
others, it was finally concluded to make the experiment; and in the month of
September, 1824, the office was commenced in the second story of the same
building in Crosby Street, and finally, during the same year, the entire
premises were bought of the trustees of the Wesleyan Seminary for a printing
office and bindery.
In coming to this conclusion, however, there was great hesitation on the
part of the book committee, arising out of a fear that the project would not
succeed. So thoroughly convinced, however, was the writer of this sketch of
the feasibility of the plan, and of its profitableness to the Concern, that,
after obtaining the consent and co-operation of his assistant, they offered
to purchase the premises and commence operations on their own personal
responsibility; and if the next General Conference should not approve of the
undertaking, they would take the entire establishment as their own, provided
the Concern should pay them the interest on the purchase money, and the net
profits of the printing, after deducting the usual prices paid for the work
to other printers. This proposition, indicative of such perfect confidence
in the successful issue of the project, silenced opposition, the purchase
was made, and the printing office and bindery were very soon permanently
established. The utility of the measure, in every point of view, though it
added great additional labor and responsibility to the agents, became so
manifest, that it was soon seen and appreciated by all concerned, and highly
approved of by the next General Conference.
Measures were adopted for a gradual and constant increase to the number and
variety of our books. Hitherto Dr. Adam Clarke’s Commentary had been
published by other publishers, and was now in the hands of Abraham Paul, a
very worthy member of our Church, and a printer of established reputation in
the city of New York. He made an advantageous offer of the stereotype plates
of the octavo edition, and of the numbers of the quarto edition which he had
on hand, together with a list of his subscribers, with the privilege of
publishing the remainder as it should come out. This offer was accepted by
the agents, and hence this most valuable and deservedly popular Commentary
became the property of the Methodist Episcopal Church, so far as such a
work, a copyright of which could not be legally secured in this country, —
could become its property, and has been ever since published by this
Concern.
The printing of books from stereotype plates had recently been introduced
into this country, by which means standard works, for which a constant
demand might be expected, were very much cheapened. The first work
stereotyped in this establishment was the 24mo. edition of the Hymn-book,
soon after the General Conference of 1820. Since that time stereotype plates
have been gradually introduced, until nearly all the books now issued from
this press are printed from these standing types, — an improvement in the
art of printing as great as the improvement in navigation by the use of
steamboats, — more especially since the power of steam has been so usefully
applied to printing, by the introduction of presses moved by this powerful
agent. Of these improvements in book-making this Concern has wisely availed
itself, as its means and constantly increasing demands would seem to
justify.
But to return to the narrative. Beholding the beneficial results of
periodical literature on the intellectual, moral, and religious state of the
people, measures were adopted by the agents; with the advice and concurrence
of the book committee and of the New York conference, for issuing a weekly
paper, to be called the “Christian Advocate.” Accordingly, on the 9th of
September, 1826, the first number of this advocate of Christian doctrines,
morals, and the institutions of Methodism, made its appearance, much to the
gratification of all the members and friends of the Church. As a proof of
this general gratification, in a very short time its number of subscribers
far exceeded every other paper published in the United States, being about
twenty-five thousand; and it soon increased to thirty thousand, and was
probably read by more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons, young
and old. Though Mr. Badger was the editor of this paper, yet the editorial
matter was chiefly furnished by the senior editor of the establishment, even
before he was appointed its editor in 1828. Mr. Badger, however, displayed a
good taste and correct judgment in selecting and arranging matter for its
columns, and was therefore an efficient instrument in giving it a popular
character; but so far as the editorial articles were concerned, he received
more credit than he was entitled to, as most of those articles were
furnished by the person named above, and some very valuable ones by his
worthy and able assistant; and its columns were also enriched, from time to
time, by some able and pious correspondents. These, together with the
religious, scientific, and secular intelligence it inculcated, did much to
aid the cause of sound knowledge and solid piety; and it was particularly
useful in defending our doctrines and primitive usages from reproach, as
well as in making known to our people the character and labor of the entire
establishment. Indeed, the “Christian Advocate and Journal” soon became to
the Book Concern like a faithful herald to a government, proclaiming to all
its will, and making known its plans.
This continual enlargement of the establishment, while it infused energy
into its operations, and mightily extended the sphere of its usefulness
among the reading community, increased also its debt; but we knew that it
also increased the means of its liquidation, and must ultimately both tend
to its entire emancipation from its pecuniary embarrassment, and enlarge its
sphere of usefulness, in respect to the number, variety, and character of
its publications.
It should be noticed, also, that at the earnest request of our brethren west
of the mountains, the General Conference of 1820 authorized the
establishment of a branch of the Book Concern in Cincinnati, and Martin
Ruter, of the New England conference, was appointed to its charge, to act
under the direction of the agents in New York. One thing which led to this
establishment was the depreciation, since the annihilation of the old bank
of the United States, in 1810, of the currency in the west. For a number of
years the Concern had several thousand dollars lying useless in the banks of
Cincinnati, merely because it was almost worthless in New York; and we had
no other way to realize any thing from it, but by authorizing our agent
there to invest it in cotton and tobacco, and ship them to our account to
New York. The cotton was sent to Liverpool; but the tobacco, I believe, was
chiefly a dead loss, in consequence of the wreck of the boat in which it was
shipped. [Blessed Loss! Which, I suspect, may have been ordered of the Lord.
— DVM]
This branch, however, has gone on from that day to this with less or more
prosperity; has become a publishing office, and bids fair to do much in
diffusing useful knowledge through all that region of country.
It has been already stated, that the debts of the Concern had very
considerably increased; but they had been increased by the procurement of
those means, such as an office for printing and binding, presses, stereotype
plates, and all sorts of tools for each department, as must, if properly
managed, finally lead to the liquidation of the debts, and thus place the
Concern on a permanent foundation, beyond the reach of danger by the
fluctuations of the times, so often occasioned by the frequent pressures of
the money market. Its credit was good; its liabilities were always promptly
met; its working hands paid; and all its parts were in vigorous operation.
It was found, however, that there was on hand a large stock of old
unsaleable books, bound and unbound, both in the general depository in New
York, and on the circuits and stations, as well as at Cincinnati, which had
been accumulating for years. All these, through reported from year to year
as capital stock, were entirely unproductive; and the manner in which the
accounts were kept, and the books sold, had a tendency to increase this
unproductive stock, and also the amount of debts due to the Concern. I
allude to the credit system, and the discount of eighteen per centum which
was allowed to preachers and others for whatever books they might sell,
merely rendering an account of the books remaining on hand at the end of
each year, which passed to their credit on the settlement of their accounts.
By these means the number and quantity of books were constantly augmenting
in the districts, while the Concern was increasing its liabilities by being
obliged to pay the expense of those already on hand, and for furnishing a
fresh supply, a part of which might help to swell the amount of those
unsold; and the longer they remained on hand, the more unsaleable they
became.
The question now was, What means can be devised to rid the Concern of this
mass of unproductive stock, and more speedily and certainly dispose of books
which may be hereafter published? In answer to this question, it was
suggested by the assistant agent, and promptly assented to by the principal,
that the old stock on hand, scattered through the country in the several
circuits, should be offered at wholesale prices, for cash or good security,
at a discount of fifty percent, and that her after our books should he sold
to wholesale purchasers, whether preachers or others, at a discount of
thirty-three and one-third percent for cash, and twenty-five percent on good
security, payable at the next annual conference after the purchase was made,
and if not then paid, with lawful interest until the note was discharged.
This system was accordingly recommended to the General Conference of 1828,
and, after mature consideration, was adopted, and its provisions inserted in
the Discipline.
At this conference, the constitutional term of Nathan Bangs having ended, he
was elected editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal, John Emory the
principal editor and book steward, and Beverly Waugh his assistant.
With this broad foundation laid, and these wise plans devised and
sanctioned, the new agents went to their work in good earnest, and soon
succeeded in paying off the debts of the establishment, and in widening the
sphere of their operations greatly. Wesley’s and Fletcher’s Works were
published, the Methodist Magazine was improved by commencing a new series
under the denomination of the “Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review,” the
number of Sunday school books and tracts was multiplied, though these latter
were under the charge of the editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal.
The new method of selling the books worked admirably well, the old stock on
hand was rapidly disposed of, and the orders for books became more numerous,
and of course the and all profits proportionally augmented.
This rapid increase in the business very soon led to the necessity of
enlarging our buildings. Accordingly all the vacant ground in Crosby Street
was occupied. But even these additions were found insufficient to
accommodate the several departments of labor, so as to furnish the needful
supply of books now in constantly increasing demand.
To supply this deficiency five lots were purchased in Mulberry Street,
between Broome and Spring streets, and one building erected in the rear for
a printing office and bindery, intending to erect another of larger
dimensions after the General Conference of 1832. Accordingly the plan of the
new buildings was submitted to that conference, with an estimate of the
probable expense, and of its utility in furthering the benevolent objects of
the Concern. The plan was highly applauded, and the agents were instructed
to carry it into execution.
At this General Conference, Dr. Emory, whose wise counsels and literary
labors had been of so much service to the Concern, and were therefore highly
appreciated, was elected a bishop, and Beverly Waugh was appointed to fill
his place, and T. Mason his assistant. Acting on the principles which had
been laid down by their predecessors, they carried out the plans which had
been suggested with great energy and effect. At the same conference, in
consequence of the increased labors in the editorial department, Nathan
Bangs was removed from the editorship of the Christian Advocate and Journal
to the editorial charge of the Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review and
the general books, and John P. Durbin was elected editor of the Christian
Advocate and Journal and Sunday school books and tracts, and Timothy Merritt
his assistant. Mr. Durbin introduced one very important improvement into the
Sunday school department, and that was the commencement of a Sunday School
Library, which has now reached its two hundred and forty-fourth volume, made
up of some of the choicest books to he found for the edification of youth.
This division of labor had a most beneficial tendency, as it enabled the
editors to devote themselves more exclusively to the improvement of the
literary and scientific departments of their work.
What an alteration in this respect! In the infancy of the Concern the agent
did all the work of editing, packing up the books, and keeping the accounts,
besides doing the work of a stationed preacher. In 1804 he was allowed an
assistant; but no clerk was employed until 1818, when, on resuming the
publication of the Magazine, the agents, by the advice of the book
committee, employed a young man to assist in packing the books and shipping
them off. From 1820 to 1828 the writer of this history had the entire
responsibility of the establishment on his shoulders, both of editing and
publishing the Magazine and books, and overseeing its pecuniary and
mercantile department. It is due, however, to his assistants to say, that
they labored faithfully and indefatigably to promote the interests of the
Concern, and the labor of keeping the books and attending to the pecuniary
business devolved chiefly on them, under his advisement. In 1825 a clerk was
first employed to keep the books; and after the Christian Advocate and
Journal was commenced, and the Sunday school books and tracts began to
multiply, it became necessary to employ several clerks to keep the accounts,
and to pack up and send off the periodicals. In taking charge of the
Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review, the editor found himself
exceedingly cramped, as he was not at liberty to offer any remuneration to
contributors, but must take such as he could get, chiefly by selections from
other books or furnishing matter from his own pen. In consequence of these
embarrassments, he is free to confess that the character of that publication
was far beneath what it should and might have been, had the editor been at
liberty to follow his own convictions of duty and propriety in furnishing
suitable materials for the work. This defect was as mortifying to him, as it
was a disappointment to its readers and patrons; and he rejoices that his
advice, long urged without effect, was at last adopted, and that hence a
brighter day has dawned upon this department of our literature; for now, by
employing able writers, the worthy editor is giving a character to that
periodical which is likely to be equally honorable to himself and to the
Church whose interests he is endeavoring to promote.
Immediately after the adjournment of the conference of 1832, the new agents
went to work, and erected the front building in Mulberry Street; and, in the
month of September, in 1833, the entire establishment was removed into the
new buildings. Not being able to dispose of the property in Crosby Street,
the old edifice was taken down, and four neat dwelling houses were erected
in its place, the rent of which is worth to the Concern from twelve hundred
to two thousand dollars a year. They are intended as residences for the
editors and agents; and if they do not choose to occupy them, they are at
liberty to rent them, and take the avails toward defraying the expense of
other houses. Thus the premises which were at first procured as a site for
the Wesleyan seminary, an institution designed for the religious as well as
secular education of youth, has become the permanent property of the
Methodist Book Concern, and is therefore still devoted to scientific,
religious, and literary purposes. May it never be otherwise employed!
In this new and commodious building, with diligent and efficient agents and
editors at work, every thing seemed to be going on prosperously and
harmoniously, when, lo and behold, the entire property was consumed by fire!
In this disastrous conflagration, the Methodist Church lost not less than
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The buildings, all the printing and
binding materials, a vast quantity of books, bound and in sheets, a valuable
library, which the editor had been collecting for several years, were in a
few hours consumed
It is impossible to describe the sensations which were produced by this
calamitous and mournful event. It was on a very cold night in the month of
February, 1836, but a short time after the great fire in the city of New
York, which destroyed about twenty million dollars’ worth of property. I was
awakened about four o’clock, A. M., by a ringing at my door, and a voice
which apprised me that the Book Room was on fire! I sprung from my bed,
dressed, called my two sons who were at home, and repaired with all possible
speed to the scene of conflagration. I hoped, at least, to save the library.
But the smoke was already issuing from the windows of my office, and the
flames from other parts of the house! Here I found the agents, who were on
the spot before me. The hydrants were frozen, and the waters were thrown but
feebly, though all exerted themselves to their utmost. We saw that all was
gone. Suddenly, and with a tremendous crash, the roof fell in! The flames
seemed to ascend in curling eddies to the heavens, carrying with them
fragments of books and papers, which the winds swept over the city to the
eastward, as if to carry the news of the sad disaster to our distant
friends. Indeed, a leaf of a Bible was found about three miles from the
place, on which the following verse was but just legible: — “Our holy and
our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire;
and all our pleasant things are laid waste,” Isa. lxiv, 11.
While standing upon the smoking ruins, about ten o’clock in the morning, a
minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church informed me that this leaf had
been picked up in the city of Brooklyn, and that it was in the possession of
a gentleman in the lower part of the city, a bookseller, in Pearl Street. I
requested a friend to call and ascertain the fact, and if possible to obtain
the relic, which seemed precious in my estimation. He accordingly called,
and found it was even so; but the gentleman, wishing to preserve it as a
memento of this disastrous event, and as an evidence of the truth of his own
statement, declined to surrender it to another.
Our “beautiful house,” and all our “pleasant things,” our books and printing
and binding apparatus — were indeed “burned up with fire!” But the
fire-proof vault had, by the skillful management of the firemen, preserved
the account books, and most of the registry books for subscribers were saved
by the timely exertions of the clerk of that department. The rest was gone,
except about three hundred dollars’ worth of books, and some of the iron
work, stone, and brick about the building.
“How did this fire originate?” This question has been asked a thousand
times, but never satisfactorily answered, although an inquiry was
immediately instituted, and diligent search made, with a view to ascertain
the fact. It still lies buried in obscurity; but my own opinion is, that it
took fire by accident in the interior of the building, in the second story,
where the fire was first discovered by the man who came to open the office
and make the fires for the day. The reasons for this opinion, though
satisfactory to myself, I cannot here detail; and, as they do not involve
any one connected with the establishment in blame, while it relieves us from
entertaining the cruel suspicion that any one was wicked enough to set fire
to the premises, it may pass for what it is worth, without injury to any
individual concerned.
In the deep affliction felt by the agents, and indeed all in any way
connected with the establishment, it was no small consolation to be assured
of the sincere and wide-spread sympathy which was both felt and expressed by
our brethren and friends for us on account of this heavy loss. At a public
meeting held a few days after in the city of New York, about twenty-five
thousand dollars were subscribed toward relieving us in this distress, and
as the news spread, similar meetings were held all over the country, and
liberal donations and subscriptions were made, which mightily cheered the
hearts of those more immediately interested in the Concern. The entire
amount which has been received toward making up this heavy loss is
$88,346.09. This, as it came in, enabled the agents to continue their
business, and they recommenced building, even while the smoke gave signs
that the fire was not entirely extinguished.
What made this fire the more disastrous was, that the much more destructive
one which had preceded it only about two months in the city of New York, had
prostrated most of the insurance offices, and rendered them unable to pay
the demands against them, and made it impossible to get insured in New York
with any safety for some time. Most of the policies held by the Concern had
expired about this time by their own limitation and such were the fears
entertained abroad for New York fires, that it was next to impossible to get
insured elsewhere on any terms. Hence but a small portion was under
insurance at the time of the fire, so that only about $25,000 were realized
from these sources to make up the loss.
Happily, the Concern was not in debt. By hiring an office temporarily, and
employing other printers, and accepting he kind offers of some who proffered
their services, the agents soon resumed their business, the smaller works
were put to press, and our herald of news, the Christian Advocate and
Journal, soon took its flight again, though the first number after the fire
had its wings much shortened, through the symbolical heavens, carrying the
tidings of our loss, and of the liberal and steady efforts which were making
to reinvigorate the paralyzed Concern.
Things went on in this way till the assembling of the General Conference of
1836, when Beverly Waugh being elected a bishop, Thomas Mason was put in his
place, and George Lane was elected his assistant. To this conference the
plan of the new building was submitted, approved of; and the new agents
entered upon their work with energy and perseverance. Samuel Luckey, D. D.,
was elected general editor, and John A. Collins his assistant. Of their
labors I need say nothing, as they are before the public, and will be
appreciated according to their worth.
The new buildings went up with all convenient dispatch, in a much better
style, more durable, better adapted to their use, and safer against fire
than the former. A view of the front building may be seen in the engraving
which accompanies this volume. [graphic not included with this electronic
edition — DVM] This is one hundred and twenty-one feet in length, and thirty
in breadth, four stories high above the basement, with offices for the
agents and editors, a book-store in the north end, and a committee-room in
the first story above the basement in the south end, in which the managers
of the Missionary Society meet, ad the corresponding secretary has his
office, the other story being occupied for a printing office, drying and
pressing the printed sheets.
The building in the rear is sixty-five feet in length, and thirty in
breadth, four stories high, and is used for stitching and binding, and
storing away the printed and bound books.
There are now, 1841, employed in the printing office eight power-presses,
moved by steam; and the cylinder press, on which the Christian Advocate and
Journal is printed, throws off one thousand and eight hundred impressions in
an hour. To keep all these in operation requires the labor of fifty-six
hands, a much less number than before power-presses were used, besides the
superintendent of the office, to whose skill and diligence the Concern is
much indebted for its steady improvement and encouraging success.
In the bindery there are employed eighty-seven hands, besides the worthy
superintendent, whose activity and skill in his business have gained him the
confidence of his employers. Of these thirty-six are male and fifty-one are
female, the latter of whom are engaged in folding and stitching, and the
former in pressing and binding the books.
Adding these to those employed in the printing office, they will make the
whole number at present, including the editors, agents, and clerks, in the
Book Room, one hundred and seventy-four workmen, the number varying either
less or more, to meet the exigencies of the times.
I need only add here, that at the last General Conference the same agents
were continued in office, George Peck was elected editor of the Methodist
Quarterly Review and the general books and tracts, and Thomas E. Bond editor
of the Christian Advocate and Journal, and Sunday school books, and George
Coles his assistant.
In addition to this principal establishment, as I have already noticed in
the general history, the branch establishment at Cincinnati has been so
conducted that it has constantly increased in magnitude and importance, and
is receiving more and more of the public patronage. A weekly paper, ably
conducted, and with a circulation of upward of twelve thousand, now entered
upon its seventh volume, is published there, besides a variety of books of
the smaller class, together with a periodical in the German language, and
another called the Ladies’ Repository and Western Gatherer; and the agents
keep on sale all the books which are published in New York. In addition to
these, with a view to afford facilities for the more general circulation of
both books, tracts, and periodicals, depositories have been established in
Boston, Philadelphia, Richmond, Va., Charleston, S. C., Pittsburgh, and
Nashville, at each of which places a weekly religious paper is published,
all under the patronage of the General Conference except those in Boston and
Philadelphia, the former being under the patronage of the New England, Rhode
Island, Maine, and New Hampshire conferences, and the latter being the
property of individuals. Though these several papers may not add any thing
directly to the pecuniary resources of the Concern, as some of them have not
heretofore supported themselves, yet they no doubt increase and extend its
moral power and influence, and indirectly promote its pecuniary interests by
inculcating more generally religious and scientific information, advertising
the books, and thus creating, improving, and more widely diffusing a taste
for reading, by which means a demand for books is proportionally increased
and perpetuated.
This imperfect narrative will enable the reader to judge of the moral power
which this Concern has exerted, and does still exert, on the reading
community by means of its numerous publications.
II. Objects and Influence of the Concern — Many have egregiously
misapprehended the objects of this establishment. They have supposed that
its chief object and primary design were to make money, and hence the
virulence with which it has been at times assailed. But it has been affirmed
over and over again, and also demonstrated by an appeal to facts, that this
never was, and is not either the primary or secondary object and design of
the Methodist Book Concern. It was commenced, and is now kept in operation
for the purpose of diffusing abroad sound knowledge, moral and religious
information, and general intelligence on all subjects connected with the
best interests of mankind, which involve their present and future, their
temporal and eternal well-being. These are its objects.
But knowing that, if judiciously managed, it might yield something over and
above its expenses, provision was made for the application of its surplus
revenue for the best of all objects, namely, the spread of Scriptural truth
and holiness through the land, by means of itinerant preaching. The objects,
therefore, to be realized by its pecuniary means are identical with the
preaching of the gospel, and fall in with the grand design for which the
Saviour came into our world, and that is to redeem mankind “from all
iniquity.” And its annual avails are sacredly applied for the promotion of
this most benevolent object.
Our ministry differs, in respect to its means and amount of support, from
all others. We are not, however, inquiring into the comparative merits or
demerits of each, but simply in regard to facts. While most others are so
amply provided for that they may lay up something for old age, and procure
an inheritance for their children, our ministers are allowed what is
considered barely sufficient to meet the necessary wants of themselves and
those who are dependent on them for a support, and hence the appropriations
are made in proportion to the age and number in a family, and to the
expensiveness of living. But in many places not even this much is ever
realized. Hence many come to conference every year more or less deficient,
especially those who labor in the exterior parts of the work. Yet allowing
that they were to get all that is allowed them, unless the have other means
of accumulating property, they will “have nothing over.”
Under these circumstances, it was thought to he a sacred duty which the
Church owed to her servants, who have worn and are wearing themselves out in
her service, to provide something for their support and comfort in old age,
as well as to meet the annual necessities of those who are most emphatically
preaching “the gospel to the poor.” For this purpose a public collection,
called “the conference or fifth collection,” is made once a year in all our
congregations, the amount of which is sent to the annual conference, and
equally divided among deficient preachers toward making up their
disciplinary allowance; and to aid in this benevolent work the avail of the
Book Concern are added.
We have also on our list not less than two hundred and sixty-one
superannuated preachers, perhaps as many wives and widows, besides a large
number of orphan children. These are some of the “treasures of the
Church,” as a certain primitive bishop said to his heathen persecutors,
when, in answer to their demand for his church treasures, he brought out the
poor of his flock, and replied, “These are my treasures;” but they are a
sort of treasure which hung us in no other income than what is called forth
by the commiseration which they excite in the hearts of the people. They are
nevertheless a treasure of great worth.
Well, to meet the wants of these superannuated preachers, their wives,
widows, and orphan children, the avails of the Methodist Book Concern are
appropriated, and we rejoice that it has alway yielded a little for so noble
and philanthropic an object. Hence this is made one of the many grounds on
which the plea is founded, and a very strong one it is, even resistible to
those who understand and duly appreciate it, for as extensive a circulation
as possible of the books of this establishment. And then as the bishops have
no legal claim upon any circuit or station, nor even an annual conference,
for any thing more than their bare allowance as traveling preachers; that
is, one hundred dollars a year for each bishop and one hundred dollars for
his wife, and not over twenty-four dollars for each child under fourteen
years of age, a portion of the annual dividends of the Book Concern is
appropriated for their family and traveling expenses. These then are the
objects which are incidentally provided for by this Concern, and it is
thought that they are such as to commend themselves to the approbation of
every just, generous, and benevolent mind.
I say incidentally — for they were not the primary, nor the chief object for
which the Concern was instituted. If they were, they would not be worthy of
the labor and anxiety of conducting its complicated affairs, inasmuch as its
pecuniary benefits might, if this did not exist, be realized with less
trouble from other sources. But when we take into the account its immense
moral, religious, and scientific object, to promote which was its primary
design, no man need to grudge the labor he bestows upon it, the sacrifices
he may make to build up and perpetuate its interests, and to make it wield
as great and extensive a power as possible. To guard the purity of the
press, to promulgate sound, Scriptural doctrine, to spread the most useful
information, and to proclaim to all within the hearing of its voice, “the
unsearchable riches of Christ,” — these were the high, and holy, and
enlightened purposes for which this Concern was established, and for which
we have labored, and do still labor to keep it in operation.
Those therefore who understand its character and objects, will be convinced
that they who work in this Concern, editors, agents, printers, and binders,
as well as the venders of the books, are subserving, in the most powerful
and diffusive manner, the grand designs of redemption. Whatever may be the
motive of any subordinate or principal agent in its concerns, let it be
remembered that it was created, and has been carried forward, for the sole
purpose of enlightening mankind by the principles of truth, whether of
moral, philosophical, historical, or divine truth, and of saving sinners
from the error of their ways, by pointing them to the “Lamb of God who
taketh away the sin of the world.”
But has it accomplished this work? It has. I remember at the public meeting
held in the city of New York in its behalf, soon after the disastrous fire I
have before noticed, a gentleman present, a member of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, arose and remarked, in substance, “I have lived heretofore
in the new countries; and I remember the time when the people who dwelt in
their log cabins had no other books to read but such as they obtained from
Methodist itinerants, who carried them around their circuits in their
saddle-bags, and after preaching sold them to the people. In this humble way
the poor people in the wilderness were supplied both with the living word
from the ups of God’s messengers, and with reading matter for their
meditation by the fire-side when the living teacher had taken his departure.
Therefore,” he added, with a warmth of feeling which thrilled through the
whole assembly and brought forth a spontaneous burst of applause, “put me
down one thousand dollars to help rebuild the Methodist Book Room.”
This was all strictly true. Wherever the Methodist preachers went; — and
where did they not go? — they not only carried the glad tidings of salvation
upon their lips, but they also “published the acceptable year of the Lord”
by means of the press, and by circulating the best of books in the cheapest
possible form among the people, often giving them away, at their own
personal expense, to those who were not the to pay for them.
What a mighty engine is the press! What an event was that when this engine
was first set in motion Since then, what a revolution has been effected in
the civilized world, in religion, in civil jurisprudence, in philosophy, and
in every department of knowledge, human and divine! Mr. Wesley well knew the
power of this instrument. he therefore availed himself of it to aid him in
the great work of evangelizing the world. He made it speak, in clear and
distinct tones, “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” His
sons in the gospel have had wisdom and perseverance enough to follow in his
track, aid make this speaking-trumpet continue its “certain sound,” and it
has been, not a “tinkling cymbal,” but a high-sounding instrument of
peculiar force, warning the unruly, instructing the ignorant, and rejoicing
the hearts, by its thrilling accents, of tens of thousands of immortal
minds.
Others have also imitated the example. Hence publishing establishments,
among various sects and parties, have come into existence both in Europe and
America, which are sending out their tracts, Sunday school books, Bibles,
and various other publications, in every direction. Success to them all, so
far as they are guided by the “wisdom coming from above,” and are actuated
by motives of benevolence to the souls and bodies of men!
But the voice of this mighty instrument is now heard in almost every quarter
of the globe. The men that have been raised up by the lever of Wesleyan
Methodism have “gone out into all the world, and their words,” which are
uttered through the press, “unto the ends of the earth.” On both sides of
the Atlantic men have been raised up, and qualified to hold “the pen of
ready writers;” and they have wielded, and are wielding it, with powerful
effect among the different nations of the earth. Portions of the works of
the Wesleys, and the doctrinal tracts and biographies of those and others of
the same connection, have been translated into the French, Spanish,
Portuguese, German, and Dutch languages, and even into some of the languages
of the North American Indians, and, by means of the press, are “flying upon
the wings of the morning to the utmost bounds of the earth.” Even at our own
press, Bibles and Testaments, of various sizes Commentaries, — Wesley’s,
Clarke’s, Benson’s, Watson’s, — sermons, from a variety of authors,
doctrinal, experimental, and practical; tracts, to the number of upward of
three hundred, from four to sixty pages each; biographies of Christian
ministers, and other eminent characters, male and female; histories;
critical dissertations on a variety of subjects; various periodicals, loaded
with the best of matter, of a miscellaneous character, one of which, the
Christian Advocate and Journal, is read probably by not less than one
hundred thousand [8] people; are now published, and sent abroad in various
directions.
Now, who can calculate the immense moral power of this press? Besides the
influence it exerts upon the readers of its publications, it tends to call
forth the talents of writers who are benefiting themselves while they are
striving to instruct others, thus increasing the moral and intellectual
ability to do good, while the good itself is diffused throughout the whole
community. For, indeed, these publications are carrying light and
instruction, not only throughout our own continent, but to Africa, to South
America, to the British provinces of North America, to the West Indies, and
are now lifting up their voice in the Oregon territory, on the shores of the
North Pacific.
No wonder that its enemies have tried to cripple its energies, and to
silence its voice. They had felt its power; they therefore feared its
effects; but, by using it judiciously, it has made known our character and
objects, vindicated our doctrines, institutions, and usages, and developed
our plans of operations. Hence a comparative silence has succeeded to the
clamorous opposition which was raised against it and us not many years
since.
And this demonstrates more forcibly still its vast utility. It has spoken so
plainly, conclusively, energetically, and truly, that others now understand
us better than formerly, and we humbly trust fellowship us more cordially.
It is hoped, therefore, that neither pride nor vain-glory on the one hand,
nor fear and man-pleasing on the other, will ever lead to the abuse of this
high and distinguished privilege, of speaking to the public through the
press. And may it ever be guarded against all impurity in doctrine and
morals, and he made to utter the sentiments of truth and love! so shall it
be like a faithful sentinel, to guard the walls of our Zion, and to direct
the wandering traveler, who has his “face thitherward,” into the “narrow
way” and the “strait gate,” which may safely conduct him to everlasting
life.
But it is time to bring this History to a close. I have finished my work, at
least in this department of labor. I have done what I could to present
facts, with such comments as seemed needful to throw light upon them. If I
have allowed some of these facts to pass without any note of approbation or
disapprobation, the reader is not to infer that they are therefore either
approved or disapproved, but simply that I chose to let every one draw his
own inferences, without any predilection from the opinions of the historian.
One word, by way of apology, for the general arrangement and manner of the
History. It is said that “history is philosophy teaching by example.” This
is true. But how does philosophy teach by example? I apprehend, by the facts
it furnishes, and not by substituting philosophical disquisitions for the
facts of history. Well-authenticated facts furnish the philosopher with his
data, whence he draws his conclusions respecting causes and effects and
their mutual dependence, as well as the influence they exert upon human
affairs. The principal business of the historian, therefore, is to record
facts as he finds them, without disguise or coloring, whether he can account
for them or not.
This I have endeavored to do; though not, as one has thoughtlessly said, by
suppressing inquiry, on all proper occasions, into the causes which
originated he facts, and of the effects which they produced on human
society, and especially on the religious world. And could I conscientiously
have taken the reins from the imagination, and suffered my reason to run
mad, I might have conjured up a thousand fanciful theories to account for
the success and influence of Methodism, without ascribing it to its true
original cause, namely, the divine agency. This, however, I dare not do. But
in the close of the first volume, and in various other places, I have
endeavored, and I hope not without some success, to show the aptitude of the
means which divine wisdom saw fit to employ to produce the desired results,
and the suitableness of the instruments, and their plans of operation, to
the condition and tendencies of human society. So far, therefore, from
keeping philosophy if you understand by that word the art of tracing effects
to their causes, or of inferring causes from their effects, — under
abeyance, I have freely availed myself of its assistance in the course of my
work, as every one must see who reads it with attention, and does not make
up a judgment without consulting its pages.
I might, indeed, have omitted many of the reports and other documents of the
General Conference, and extracts from writers on other subjects, and have
simply stated the substance of them, in my own language, in few words. But
this would not have answered my purpose. These documents I considered of
great importance in settling doctrines, in establishing principles, and in
confirming usages, and, therefore, would be often appealed to for or against
us. Some of them had been published, and others given in a mutilated form,
and commented upon by our opponents greatly to our disadvantage. Others were
locked up in the General Conference trunk, and were of use to no one except
to those who had an opportunity to consult them in manuscript. These are now
made public in an authenticated form, are accessible to all who desire to
read them, and will be of convenient reference in time of need.
I have endeavored thus to use the discretion which the General Conference so
generously allowed me to exercise over its documents, according to the best
of my judgment, for the edification of the reader, and for the good of the
general cause; and if the absence of all complaint, on the part of those
most interested, may be considered an evidence of satisfaction in the
selections I have made, I have reason to infer that I have not abused my
trust.
Had these documents and extracts been omitted, my work, I confess, would
have had more the appearance of a continued history, faithfully elaborated
in a uniform style; but I chose, in this respect, to sacrifice the
reputation which such a course might have secured to the greater utility,
and, I should hope, satisfaction, of the reader, arising from variety in
matter and style, by adopting the method I have.
I have, indeed, been much encouraged, from knowing that the former volumes
have had an extensive circulation, that many have expressed themselves
highly gratified in their perusal, and a hope that the History might be
continued to the present time. And, as this is in conformity with my
original intention, though it has lengthened on my hands much beyond my
expectations when I commenced writing, I have accordingly brought it down to
the year 1840. Here I close it, with an expression of gratitude to Almighty
God for the good that he hath done by the humble instrumentality of the
Methodist ministry, and for permitting me to record it to the glory of his
name. Amen.
New York, March 26, 1841.
_________________________________________________________________
[8] Since the establishment of the other papers before mentioned, there has
been a falling off in the number of subscribers to this paper, while the
aggregate number of readers has increased. Allowing twelve thousand to the
Western Christian Advocate, and three thousand to each of the other five
weekly papers, and twenty-six thousand to the one issued in New York, the
whole number of subscribers will be forty-three thousand; and, allowing four
readers to each subscriber, which probably is the average number, it will
give one hundred and seventy-two thousand readers of these weekly sheets.
Though this may sound large, yet the number is not by any means in
proportion to the number of Church members, not being more than about one
fifth of the entire membership. Should not every Methodist family,
consisting of probably not less than two hundred thousand, be blessed with
the visits of one or more of these heralds of good tidings?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Indexes
_________________________________________________________________
Index of Scripture References
Exodus
[1]23:20-22
Numbers
[2]24:5
Isaiah
[3]64:11
Jeremiah
[4]8:21 [5]8:22
John
[6]6:64
Acts
[7]4:27 [8]4:28
1 Peter
[9]1:19 [10]1:20
Jude
[11]1:4 [12]1:4
Revelation
[13]22:19 [14]22:19
_________________________________________________________________
Index of Greek Words and Phrases
* biblon: [15]1
* ginōskō: [16]1
* gramma: [17]1
* grapho: [18]1
* xulon: [19]1
* oi pulai progegrammenoi: [20]1
* opizō: [21]1
* poiasai: [22]1 [23]2
* pro: [24]1 [25]2
* progegrammenoi: [26]1
* proegnōsmenou: [27]1
* proopizō: [28]1
* proorizō: [29]1
_________________________________________________________________
Index of Latin Words and Phrases
* Coacti sunt enim in hac civitate vere adversus sanctum Filium tuum Jesum
quem unxisti, Herodes et Pontius Pilatus cum Gentibus et populis
Israelis, Ut facerent quaecumque manus tua et consilium tuum prius
definierat ut fierent.: [30]1
* Facere quaecumque: [31]1
* Olim praescripti in hoc judicium: [32]1
* facerent: [33]1
* in hoc civitate: [34]1
* prius jam olim descripti ad hanc damnationem: [35]1
_________________________________________________________________
Index of French Words and Phrases
* Car en effet Herode et Ponce Pilate, avec les Gentils et le peuple
d’Israel, se sont assembles contre ton saint Fils Jesus, que tu as oint,
Pour faire toutes les choses que ta main et ton conseil avoient
auparavant determine’ devoir etre faites.: [36]1
* Dont la condemnation est escrite depuis longtems: [37]1
* pour faire: [38]1
* ton saint Fils Jesus: [39]1
_________________________________________________________________
This document is from the Christian Classics Ethereal
Library at Calvin College, http://www.ccel.org,
generated on demand from ThML source.
References
1. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Exod&scrCh=23&scrV=20#i-p9.2
2. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Num&scrCh=24&scrV=5#i-p8.1
3. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=64&scrV=11#ii.ii.vii-p38.1
4. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=8&scrV=21#ii.ii.iii-p215.1
5. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=8&scrV=22#ii.ii.iii-p215.1
6. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=64#ii.ii.i-p46.2
7. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=4&scrV=27#ii.ii.i-p48.2
8. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=4&scrV=28#ii.ii.i-p48.2
9. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=1Pet&scrCh=1&scrV=19#ii.ii.i-p54.2
10. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=1Pet&scrCh=1&scrV=20#ii.ii.i-p54.2
11. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Jude&scrCh=1&scrV=4#ii.ii.i-p50.2
12. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Jude&scrCh=1&scrV=4#ii.ii.i-p74.2
13. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Rev&scrCh=22&scrV=19#ii.ii.i-p52.2
14. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/?scrBook=Rev&scrCh=22&scrV=19#ii.ii.i-p84.1
15. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p84.3
16. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p85.2
17. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p78.5
18. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p78.4
19. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p84.2
20. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p78.1
21. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p78.8
22. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p65.2
23. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p69.2
24. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p78.3
25. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p78.7
26. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p78.2
27. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p85.1
28. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p78.6
29. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p86.1
30. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p69.1
31. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p66.1
32. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p81.1
33. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p67.1
34. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p68.1
35. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p82.1
36. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p65.1
37. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p80.1
38. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p65.3
39. file://localhost/ccel/b/bangs/history4/cache/history4.html3#ii.ii.i-p65.4