b'totmarg \n\nof \n\nfttrutitan JIUtIj0trtsm \n\n\n\nWESLEYAN METHODISM IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\nEIGHTH \nA Journal of the Present, and Herald of the Future. \n\nA MOKTHLY BROADSHEET OF \n\nREVIVAL AND OTHER INTELLIGENCE, \n\nWITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE \nEDITED BY \n\nTHE EE V. WILLIAM CROOK. \n\nThe character arid aim of "The Irish Evangelist" will be \nsuffix :~tly indicated by the following general outline of its \n\nContents : \n\n\n\n1. Biographical Sketches of Irish \n\nWeslej^an Ministers \xe2\x80\x94 Biographi- \ncal Sketches of Eminent Irish- \nmen\xe2\x80\x94Memorials of our Depart- \ned Members. \n\n2. Historical: Outlines of Irish \n\nEcclesiastical History \xe2\x80\x94 Studies \nin Church History\xe2\x80\x94 Irish Anti- \nquities\xe2\x80\x94Sketches of Methodism \nin Ireland in former days. \n\n3. Expository: Brief Expositions \n\nof Important Passages of Scrip- \nture. \n\n4. Devotional Papers, bearing on \n\nthe culture and discipline of the \nheart. \n\n\n\n5. Literary: Brief Reviews and \n\nNotices of Current Literature. \n\n6. Evangelistic : Papers on Street \n\nPreaching \xe2\x80\x94 Home Missions- \nBible Chisses \xe2\x80\x94 Sunday Schools \n\xe2\x80\x94 Class Meetings, &c. \n\n7. Revival and General Wesleyan \n\nIntelligence. \n\n8. Young Men: Papers on Mental \n\nImprovement \xe2\x80\x94 Books, Reading, \n&c. \n\n9. Poetry: Original and Select. \n\n10. Monthly Summary of News \xe2\x80\x94 \nOccasional Papers on Astro- \nnomy, Natural History, &c. \n\n\n\n\xc2\xaei\xc2\xa7\xc2\xb0 As this Journal is extensively circulated in all the principal \nTowns and Villages in Ireland, and has many Subscribers in \nEngland and Scotland, and is also registered for Foreign Trans- \nmission, it is a first-class medium of Advertisements for Books, \nSchools, and general Public Business. \n\n\n\nPEICE TWOPENCE. \n\n\n\nDublin : "Irish Evangelist Publishing Company," \n(Limited), Lower Abbey Steet ; Richakd Yoakley, 72, \nGrafton Street. London : Elliot Stock, Paternoster Row. \n\nPublished on the First of every Month, and sold at all our \nChurches and Preaching Places in Ireland. \n\nA Single Copy sent for a Year to any address in the \nUnited Kingdom, on receipt of Three Shillings in Stamps ; or \nFive Copies to one address for Ten Shillings. Address to Mr. \nWilliam Wallace, Office of "The Irish Evangelist," 8, Lower \nAbbey Street, Dublin. \n\n\n\n1 X \n\n\n\nCentmarg \n\nof \n\n\n\n\nRuins of Embury\'s House at Ballingran, County Limerick (from the \nfield looking towards the Entrance-gate.) Offices on the right. \xe2\x80\x94 \nSee pp. 77-78. . _ \n\n1866. \n\n\n\nCmtmarg of American Jletijootsm \n\n\n\nCHAPTERS ON THE PALATINES ; PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK ; \nAND OTHER IRISH EMIGRANTS, \n\nWHO INSTRUMENTALITY LAID THE FOUNDATION OF \n\nTHE METHODIST CHURCH \n\nCANADA, AND EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. \n\n\n\nTHE EEV. WILLIAM CEOOK, \n\nAuthor of " Memorials of the late Rev. William Crook. " \n\n\n\n"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well : whose branches \nrun over the wall : the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated \nhim : but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong \nby the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." \xe2\x80\x94 Genesis xlix. 22-24. \n\n\n\nLONDON : \n\nHAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., PATERNOSTER ROW ; \nWESLEYAN CONFERENCE OFFICE ; ELLIOT STOCK, PATERNOSTER ROW. \n\nDUBLIN : \n\nRICHARD YOAKLEY, 72, GRAFTON STREET. \n\n1866. \n\n\n\nTHE LIBRARY \nOF CONGRESS \n\n\n\nWASHINGTON \n\n\n\n\n" When we consider the peculiar difficulties of their field of labour, the \npoverty of their societies, the formidable barbai\'ism which Popery has im- \nposed upon the Celtic population, the popular tumults and rebellion, the \nwretched accommodation of the itinerants, and the continual drain upon \ntheir congregations by foreign emigration, and yet their persistent labour \nand success, it may indeed be doubted whether the energy of Irish \nMethodism has had a parallel in the history of the denomination. And its \nblessings, not only to America, but to the Wesleyan Foreign Missions, and \nto England itself, in the gift of many eminent preachers, entitle it to the \ngrateful admiration of the whole Methodist world." \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Stevens\'s History \nof Methodism, iii. p. 426. \n\n\n\nTO THE \n\nREV. ROBINSON SCOTT, D.D., \n\nTHE FIRST DEPUTATION FROM THE IRISH CONFERENCE \n\nTO THE \nOF \n\n%ty QEmteb States of tortca : \n\nTHIS BOOK IS DEDICATED \n\n\n\nMARCUS WARD AND CO., PRINTERS, \nBELFAST AND DUBLIN. \n\n\n\n\xe2\x82\xac a it 1 1 n t s . \n\n\n\nPAGE \n\n$nfm \xe2\x80\xa2 xiii \n\n\n\nCHAPTER I. \n\n||alafims in Jfolsmb, \xe2\x80\xa2 . . 17 \n\nPalatinate of the Rhine \xe2\x80\x94Position\xe2\x80\x94 Name blotted from \nmodern maps \xe2\x80\x94 Persecutions of the Palatines by the \nRomanists \xe2\x80\x94 Turenne and Louis XIV. \xe2\x80\x94 Burning of \nTowns and Villages \xe2\x80\x94 Flight of the Palatines to the Camp \nof Marlborough\xe2\x80\x94 Religious character of the Palatines \nwhen in Germany\xe2\x80\x94 Arrival of 7,000 in England \xe2\x80\x94 En- \ncamped at Camberwell and Blackheath Commons \xe2\x80\x94 Emi- \ngration of 3,000 to America \xe2\x80\x94 Settlement of remainder \nin Ireland, principally on Lord Southwell\'s Estate, \nCounty Limerick\xe2\x80\x94 Names of those who thus settled in \n1709 \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. John "Wesley on their Emigration \xe2\x80\x94 Testi- \nmonies as to the character of the Palatines and services \nin Ireland \xe2\x80\x94 Influence of Romanism and Protestantism \non Irish character. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. \n\n#npn mttr Ingres s 0f llWjwtrism \namongst % ^ala&ws, . . .35 \n\nCharacter and Appearance of the Palatine Villages \xe2\x80\x94 \nBallingran\xe2\x80\x94 Character of the Palatines prior to the in- \ntroduction of Methodism \xe2\x80\x94 Mr. Wesley\'s Testimony \xe2\x80\x94 \nSome honourable exceptions\xe2\x80\x94 Philip Guier \xe2\x80\x94 Introduc- \ntion of Methodism into Limerick by Robert Swindells \n\n\n\nVll \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. \n\n\n\n\xe2\x80\x94 His Bravery in Preaching on the King\'s Parade, \nMarch 17, 1749 \xe2\x80\x94 " Swaddlers " \xe2\x80\x94 Mrs. Bennis, of \nLimerick \xe2\x80\x94 Thomas Walsh the ultimate fruit of Swin- \ndells\'s Sermon on the Street \xe2\x80\x94 Walsh\'s Character and \nValue as a Man and a Minister \xe2\x80\x94 Swindells and the \nfirst Methodist Class in Limerick \xe2\x80\x94 Mother of the Eev. \nWilliam Myles \xe2\x80\x94 Thomas Williams \xe2\x80\x94 His Popularity, \nCalvinism, and Fall \xe2\x80\x94 Origin of Methodism amongst \nthe Palatines \xe2\x80\x94 First Class at Newmarket \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley\'s first \n"Visit to them \xe2\x80\x94 Walsh commences to Preach amongst \nthe Palatines \xe2\x80\x94 Cownley and other Labourers \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley\'s \nsecond Visit to Limerick \xe2\x80\x94 First Irish Conference \xe2\x80\x94 \nWesley and Calvinism \xe2\x80\x94 Philip Guier and five others re- \nceived on Trial as Preachers \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley\'s first Visit to \nBallingran in 1756 \xe2\x80\x94 Thomas Walsh Preaching in Irish \n\xe2\x80\x94 Wesley\'s seventh Visit to Ireland \xe2\x80\x94 Irish Conference \nof 1758 \xe2\x80\x94 Philip Embury and William Thompson re- \nceived on Trial \xe2\x80\x94 Illness of Walsh \xe2\x80\x94 His Death, and Men- \ntal Suffering explained \xe2\x80\x94 Important Document, respect- \ning Walsh\'s last Illness, from the Rev. John Dinnen \xe2\x80\x94 \nCharles Wesley\'s Lines on his Death \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley\'s further \nVisits to the Palatines \xe2\x80\x94 Death of Philip Guier \xe2\x80\x94 Wes- \nley\'s last Visit \xe2\x80\x94 Great Revival amongst them \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. \nMr. Ingram, of Limerick \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley\'s Final Testimony \nas to the Character of the Irish Conference in 1789 \xe2\x80\x94 His \ninterest in Ireland, and in the Palatines, and his re- \nmarkable prediction concerning Ireland, and its fulfil- \nment. \n\nCHAPTER III. \n\n^{rilip (ffmbmg ratr |$tn>. J^uh at \xc2\xa7allm- \nQtun, 71 \n\nEmbury and his Party leaving for America \xe2\x80\x94 Parting Scene \na Hundred and Six Years ago \xe2\x80\x94 Ballingran \xe2\x80\x94 Methodist \nChurch \xe2\x80\x94 Ruins of Embury\'s House \xe2\x80\x94 Mrs. Heck\'s House, \nand old Mrs. Ruckle \xe2\x80\x94 Embury\'s Birth \xe2\x80\x94 Education \xe2\x80\x94 \nApprenticed to a Carpenter \xe2\x80\x94 Conversion \xe2\x80\x94 Appointed \na Leader and Local Preacher \xe2\x80\x94 His Services in Connec- \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. \n\n\n\nix \n\n\n\ntion with the Building of the Church at Court-Matrix \n\xe2\x80\x94 Wesley Preaching at Ballingran in 1756 \xe2\x80\x94 Conference \nat Limerick in 1758 \xe2\x80\x94 Embury and William Thompson \nrecommended for our Itinerancy \xe2\x80\x94 Character of Thomp- \nson \xe2\x80\x94 Embury\'s Marriage in November, 1758 \xe2\x80\x94 Paul Heck \nand Barbara his Wife \xe2\x80\x94 Emigration of Embury, Paul and \nBarbara Heck, and Others, to New York in 1760. \n\nCHAPTER IV. \n\n(Emfotrjr anir gto, JptcL \xc2\xa9right \n\nProbable Causes of Embury\'s Silence for Six Years in New \nYork \xe2\x80\x94 Worshipped with the Lutherans \xe2\x80\x94 Death of two \nof his Children \xe2\x80\x94 Arrival of Second Party of Irish Pala- \ntines in 1765 \xe2\x80\x94 Mrs. Heck and the Card-players \xe2\x80\x94 Proof \nthat Embury was not present \xe2\x80\x94 Full Refutation of this \nSlander \xe2\x80\x94 Embury\'s First Sermon and the Origin of \nMethodism in America \xe2\x80\x94 His own Hired House \xe2\x80\x94 Remo- \nval of the little Church to the " Upper Room " in Bar- \nrack Street \xe2\x80\x94 Early Members of the Church \xe2\x80\x94 Removal \nto the "Rigging Loft" in 1767 \xe2\x80\x94 Arrival of Charles \nWhite and Richard Sause from Dublin \xe2\x80\x94 Captain Webb, \nhis Preaching and Success. \n\nCHAPTER Y. \n\ndDrafrle of %mmtm Pj>%trism/\' . 101 \n\nImportant Letter from " T. T." (Thomas Taylor) to \nWesley \xe2\x80\x94 value of this Letter in fixing the Date of \nEmbury\'s Emigration, and the Origin of Methodism in \nNew York \xe2\x80\x94 Lease of John Street Property, and Trustees \n\xe2\x80\x94 Embury the First Trustee and First Treasurer of \nthe Chapel Fund \xe2\x80\x94 Irish Contributions to the Enterprise \n\xe2\x80\x94 Mrs. Heck the Architect of the Church\xe2\x80\x94 Embury\'s \nOpening Sermon, in October, 1768 \xe2\x80\x94 Destruction of \nthe " Rigging Loft," in 1854. \n\n\n\nX \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. \n\nPAGE \n\n|^{ri% (ffmktrg atttr |ftrs, JSwrk at (fam- \ntrm: g^at^ nf ^mtrarg, . .117\' \n\nArrival of Thomas Ashton and Robert "Williams from \nIreland \xe2\x80\x94 Williams the First Itinerant in America, and \nthe Spiritual Father of Jesse Lee \xe2\x80\x94 Ashton and his \nColony at Ashgro ve\xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Abraham Bininger \xe2\x80\x94 Arrival \nof Boardman and Pilmoor \xe2\x80\x94 Embury, Paul, and Mrs. \nHeck remove to Camden \xe2\x80\x94 Embury forms a Class at Ash- \ngrove \xe2\x80\x94 Becomes a Magistrate \xe2\x80\x94 His Death in 1773 \xe2\x80\x94 \nCatherine Lowe \xe2\x80\x94 Death of Two of his Children \xe2\x80\x94 Mrs. \nEmbury, Paul and Barbara Heck remove to Canada \n\xe2\x80\x94 Ashton and Cemetery at Ashgro ve \xe2\x80\x94 Removal of Em- \nbury\'s Remains to Ashgrove in 1832 \xe2\x80\x94 Oration on the \noccasion by John Newland Maffitt \xe2\x80\x94 His Tomb. \n\nCHAPTER VII. \n\nJihwranf, 133 \n\nDisposition on the Part of Methodist "Writers in America \nto do full justice to Irish Methodism \xe2\x80\x94 Mistake of Wake- \nley and Dr. Stevens as to Robert "Williams \xe2\x80\x94 He was not \na " Lay Evangelist," but a Member of the Irish Con- \nference \xe2\x80\x94 Came to America with Ashton \xe2\x80\x94 "Was in \nCharge and issued Tickets before the arrival of Board- \nman and Pilmoor \xe2\x80\x94 His Character and great Services \xe2\x80\x94 \nGerm of "The Book Concern" \xe2\x80\x94 His Enduring Memorial. \n\nCHAPTER VIII. \n\nifeglanfr, . . \xe2\x80\xa2 \xe2\x80\xa2 .147 \n\nDescription of Strawbridge\'s Birthplace at Drumsna, \ncounty Leitrim \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley\'s visit to Drumsna \xe2\x80\x94 Mob in \nCarrick-on-Shannon in 1760 \xe2\x80\x94 Strawbridge\'s Persecution \nand Removal to Sligo \xe2\x80\x94 Preaches in Kilmore, county \nCavan \xe2\x80\x94 Removes to Tandragee \xe2\x80\x94 Marriage \xe2\x80\x94 Traces of \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. Xi \n\nS PAGK \n\nthe Strawbridge family at Drumsna\xe2\x80\x94 Annaduff\xe2\x80\x94 Emi- \ngrates to Maryland, about 1766\xe2\x80\x94 The "Log Meeting- \nHouse" \xe2\x80\x94 Probable Date when he commenced his Labours \nin America \xe2\x80\x94 Traces of his Family \xe2\x80\x94 His Labours and \nPoverty, and great Success \xe2\x80\x94 His Death and Funeral \xe2\x80\x94 \nAsbury\'s antipathy to him\xe2\x80\x94 Defence of Strawbridge, \nand Obligations of American Methodism to him. \n\nCHAPTER IX. \n\n|iic|rarjtr \xc2\xa70arbman, . . \xe2\x80\xa2 -1^1 \n\nLeeds Conference of 1769, and Appointment of Boardman \nand Pilmoor\xe2\x80\x94 Conversion of Mary Redfern \xe2\x80\x94 Perilous \nPassage to America \xe2\x80\x94 Boardman\'s Services in America \xe2\x80\x94 \nReturned Home in 1774\xe2\x80\x94 Appointed to Londonderry \xe2\x80\x94 \nHis Services in Ireland \xe2\x80\x94 Death in Cork in 1782 \xe2\x80\x94 His \nTomb at St. Fin Barre\'s. \n\nCHAPTER X. \n\n! wlattir mtb % @xi%m oi llWjrobism in \nCanaim, .... 187 \n\nMethodism in Canada, as in the United States, the Child \nof Irish Methodism\xe2\x80\x94 First Class in Canada, and Mrs. \nEmbury, Paul and Barbara Heck \xe2\x80\x94 George Neal, his Cha- \nracter and Services \xe2\x80\x94 James M\'Carty, his Character and \nMartyrdom \xe2\x80\x94 Fate of his Persecutors \xe2\x80\x94 William Losee \xe2\x80\x94 \nFirst Methodist Chapel in Adolphustown in 17^2, and \nIrish names as Subscribers \xe2\x80\x94 Death of Paul and Barbara \nHeck \xe2\x80\x94 Families of Embury and Heck, and Canadian \nMethodism\xe2\x80\x94" The Old Blue Church, Augusta," and the \nGrave of Paul and Barbara Heck\xe2\x80\x94 Canadian Methodism, \nand Emigration from Ireland \xe2\x80\x94 Methodism in Canada in \n1866. \n\nCHAPTER XI. \n\nJfwlmtb anb % #rigm of litdljobtsm in \n(fetenx \xc2\xa7ritislj %nxmtn t . . 209 \n\nExtent of Eastern British America \xe2\x80\x94 Methodism there, as in \nthe United States and Canada, the Child of Irish Metho- \n\n\n\nXii CONTENTS. \n\nPAGE \n\ndism \xe2\x80\x94 Laurence Coughlan \xe2\x80\x94 His Character \xe2\x80\x94 Letters to \n"Wesley \xe2\x80\x94 Commenced his Labours in 1765 \xe2\x80\x94 Letter from \nNewfoundland to Wesley \xe2\x80\x94 His Labours, Persecution and \nTriumphs \xe2\x80\x94 Moral State of Newfoundland \xe2\x80\x94 Conversion of \nArthur Thomey \xe2\x80\x94 John Stretton of Waterford \xe2\x80\x94 His Con- \nversion and Emigration to Newfoundland \xe2\x80\x94 Mrs. Bennis, \nof Limerick \xe2\x80\x94 First Methodist Chapel in Eastern British \nAmerica, Built and Opened by Stretton, at Harbour Grace \n\xe2\x80\x94 HisCharacter and Labours \xe2\x80\x94 Return of Coughlan to Eng- \nland, and his sudden Death \xe2\x80\x94 Origin of Methodism in \nthe Channel Islands, and in France \xe2\x80\x94 Labours of Stretton \nand Thomey \xe2\x80\x94 Arrival of Hoskins \xe2\x80\x94 Stretton applies to \n"Wesley for a Preacher \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley\'s Letter to him \xe2\x80\x94 Ap- \npointment of John M \'Geary, in 1785 \xe2\x80\x94 Progress of the \nCause\xe2\x80\x94 Rev. John Remmington\xe2\x80\x94 Samuel Ellis and Samuel \nM\'Dowell \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. George Cubitt and Captain Tickers \xe2\x80\x94 \nPresent State of Methodism in Eastern British America. \n\nCHAPTER XII. \n\nJf ttkntr aittr %mmzK, .... 235 \n\nConcluding Chapter \xe2\x80\x94 Irish Methodism, its peculiar Diffi- \nculties and Success \xe2\x80\x94 Ireland\'s Political troubles \xe2\x80\x94 The \nhand of God in Emigration \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. M\'Clintock\'s visit to his \nfamily homestead in Tyrone \xe2\x80\x94 English and American \nsympathy with Ireland during the Famine \xe2\x80\x94 Ireland\'s \nsympathy with America during the rebellion of the slave \npower \xe2\x80\x94 Bishop Janes\' Speech on the Debt of American \nMethodism to Ireland \xe2\x80\x94 Success of the Irish General \nMission in dealing with Popery \xe2\x80\x94 Discontinued for want \nof Funds \xe2\x80\x94 Present danger of English and American \nProtestantism from Irish Popery \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Wylie\'s remarks \non Ireland as a source of strength to the Papacy \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. \nManning on the Triumphs and Progress of Popery in \nGreat Britain \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Brownlee on Popery in the United \nStates \xe2\x80\x94 Practical suggestions \xe2\x80\x94 Special efforts for the \nConversion of Irish Romanists in England and America \n\xe2\x80\x94 Irish Methodism and want of Capital \xe2\x80\x94 Great Liberality \nof Irish Methodism \xe2\x80\x94 What it might do if adequately \nsupported. \n\n\xe2\x80\xa2 \xe2\x80\xa2 \xe2\x80\xa2 \xe2\x80\xa2 -258 \n\n\n\nPREFACE. \n\n\n\nXV \n\n\n\nwhole lias been rewritten throughout, incorporat- \ning any new information that the researches of the \nlast two or three years have brought to light. I \nwent both to Ballingran and Drums na, so as to \nsecure the most recent and reliable information \nabout Embury and Strawbridge, and have spared \nno labour to make the book as accurate as possible. \nOn a careful revision of these sheets, before send- \ning them out into the world, I do not know a \nsingle date or fact on which I have any remark to \noffer. \n\nI have read every book on the subject by our \nbrethren in America on which I could lay my hand, \nand have made free use of them. More than ordi- \nnary acknowledgments are due to the able and \naccomplished historian of the Church, the Rev. \nDr. Stevens, and to the Eev. J. B. Wakeley. \n\nOf course, the principal facts embraced in this \nbook must be already familiar to those on both \nsides of the Atlantic who have thoroughly studied \nthe subject, and for them it is not written. \nI aim at presenting, principally, to our rising \nyoung people, a brief, popular sketch of the \nhonoured place to which Irish Methodism is en- \ntitled in the approaching Centenary of American \nMethodism. \n\n\n\nXVI \n\n\n\nPREFACE. \n\n\n\nIt will be seen that of Irish Methodism, past \nand present, I am not ashamed ; but that on the \ncontrary, I believe that it will be loved, and prized, \nand honoured, precisely in proportion as its his- \ntory, difficulties, and triumphs are known. Some \nin England and America, who may, perchance, \nhonour these pages with a perusal, may deem me \nenthusiastic. Be it so. Perhaps, if they under- \nstood Irish Methodism as well as I do, they would \nthink me somewhat tame. \n\nPerhaps I should add that this book must \nplead my apology for the non-appearance of some \ntracts on the Plymouth Controversy, which I gave \nthe public reason to expect some months since, \nand for which many enquiries have been made. \nI am not insensible to these enquiries, and hope \nfully to redeem my pledge ere long. \n\nThe entire of this book, including the plates, \nwas brought out by Messrs. Marcus Ward & Co., \nof Belfast. I wish that I had reason to believe \nthat my share of the work was as well done. \n\nI commend this Book to the friends of Irish \nMethodism everywhere, and to the blessing of \nAlmighty God. \n\nWILLIAM CEOOK. \n\nSligo, August 31st, 1866. \n\n\n\npreface \n\n\n\nTO THE SECOND EDITION. \n\n\n\nFORMER edition of two thousand copies of \n\n\n\nthis book was disposed of within a few weeks, \nand I have now the gratification of issuing a third \nthousand, identical with the former edition, with the \nexception of the correction of some trifling errata \nwhich escaped my eye before, and the addition of \nan engraving of the house in which Strawbridge \ndied, and of his grave, taken from the Centennial, \nwhich only recently came into my hands. Those \npersons who have the previous edition can have a \ncopy of this plate free, on enclosing a stamped \nenvelope to Mr. Richard Yoakley, Grafton Street; or \nMr. William Wallace, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin. \n\nSeldom has any book published in Ireland met \nwith a welcome more warm and general. It \nproved far beyond anything I could expect, or \neven dare to hope. I am deeply sensible that \n\n\n\n\nXV111. \n\n\n\nPREFACE \n\n\n\nthis was in good part due to my subject, which had \nan interest almost peculiar to itself; but while \nfrankly acknowledging this, I should be ungrateful \nif I were apparently insensible of the kind way in \nwhich the public press, as well as many honoured \nfriends in England and Ireland, have spoken of the \nbook as a whole. I am deeply grateful, and only \nwish that it was in my power to make it still more \nworthy of the occasion, and of the cause it aims to \nserve. \n\nJust as the former edition met the public eye, \nthe mournful intelligence reached this land of the \nlamented death, by cholera, at Cincinnati, on Sun- \nday, the 2nd of September, of my beloved and \nhonoured friend and brother, the Eev. Eobert \nWallace. The Irish Conference felt an honest \npride in his talents and eminent worth ; and though \nhe was mysteriously denied the honour of taking \npart in the Centenary Celebration Services in the \nUnited States, yet his name must be ever asso- \nciated with those services, in connection with the \nnames of his honoured companions, the Eev. \nDr. Scott and William M\'Arthur, Esq. He \nsleeps in Cumminsville Wesleyan Cemetery, near \nCincinnati ; and his death in America, under cir- \ncumstances of such solemn and mournful interest, \nhas served to cement a new and tender bond of \n\n\n\nTO THE SECOND EDITION. xix. \n\nunion between Irish and American Methodism. I \nhave a melancholy satisfaction in offering this tri- \nbute to his honoured memory in connection with \nthe present edition of this book. \n\nI am indebted to R Walker, jun., Esq. of Cork, \nfor a note conveying the gratifying intelligence \nthat the new Cathedral does not interfere in the \nslightest degree with the final resting-place of the \nsainted Boardman ; and from the New York \nChristian Advocate, I learn that our brethren in \nAmerica have done themselves the credit of erect- \ning a beautiful marble monument to Kobert \nStrawbridge, of which the following is a copy : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n\n\nIn \n\nMemory of \nREVEREND ROBERT STRAWBRIDGE, \n\nthe First \nMethodist Local Preacher \nin Maryland : \nAND ALSO HIS EXCELLENT WIFE. \nOctober, 1866. \n\n" How calm his exit : \nNight dews fall not so gentle to the ground, \nOr weary, worn-out winds expire so soft." \n\n\n\nThe shaft is of pure Italian marble, fifteen feet \nhigh, and three feet square at the base, and is \n\n\n\nXX. \n\n\n\nPREFACE. \n\n\n\nplaced in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Baltimore, in \nthe Preachers\' lot, near the final resting-place of \nfour Bishops, and several noted heroes of the \nItinerancy. \n\nI again commend this Book \xe2\x80\x94 the memorial of \nIreland\'s place in connexion with the Centenary \nof American Methodism \xe2\x80\x94 to the blessing of God, \nand to the friends of Ireland and of Irish Metho- \ndism throughout the world. \n\nW. C. \n\nSligo, December 1st, 1866. \n\n\n\n1 \n\n\n\nB \n\n\n\n" Although they were not understood, \nYet from their spirit and their blood \nDid flow a fair and fertile flood \nOf thoughts and deeds both great and good." \n\nThomas Jordan, 1645 \n\n\n\nCHAPTEE I. \n\nPALATINATE OF THE RHINE \xe2\x80\x94 POSITION \xe2\x80\x94 NAME BLOTTED FROM \nMODERN MAPS\xe2\x80\x94 PERSECUTIONS OF THE PALATINES BY THE \nROMANISTS \xe2\x80\x94 TURENNE AND LOUIS XIV. \xe2\x80\x94BURNING OF TOWNS \nAND VILLAGES \xe2\x80\x94 FLIGHT OF THE PALATINES TO THE CAMP \nOF MARLBOROUGH \xe2\x80\x94 RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF THE PALA- \nTINES WHEN IN GERMANY \xe2\x80\x94 ARRIVAL OF 7,000 IN ENGLAND \n\xe2\x80\x94 ENCAMPED AT CAMBERWELL AND BLACKHEATH COMMONS \n\xe2\x80\x94 EMIGRATION OF 3,000 TO AMERICA \xe2\x80\x94 SETTLEMENT OF RE- \nMAINDER IN IRELAND, PRINCIPALLY ON LORD SOUTHWELL\'S \nESTATE, COUNTY LIMERICK \xe2\x80\x94 NAMES OF THOSE WHO THUS \nSETTLED IN 1709 \xe2\x80\x94 REV. JOHN WESLEY ON THEIR EMIGRATION \n\xe2\x80\x94 TESTIMONIES AS TO THE CHARACTER OF THE PALATINES \nAND SERVICES IN IRELAND \xe2\x80\x94 INFLUENCE OF ROMANISM AND \nPROTESTANTISM ON IRISH CHARACTER. \n\nTHE Palatinate of the Ehine was one of the seven \nancient electorates of Germany. It was long united \nto Bavaria, but was separated in 1294. Tt was divided \ninto the Upper and Lower Palatinate : the former \n\n\n\n20 \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\nsituated near the source of the Ehine, with Ambery \nfor its capital ; the latter, on both sides of the lower \nEhine, bordering on France, and having amongst its \nprincipal cities Heidelberg, Manheim, Deux Ponts, \nand Darmstadt. For between three and four hundred \nyears this beautiful State remained in the possession of \nthe Palatine House, but the Upper section was lost by \nthe defeat of the Elector Palatine, Frederic V., son-in- \nlaw of James I. of England, at the battle of Prague, \nin 1620. The Palatinate was horribly ravaged by \nTilly in 1622, and by the French in 1688. In the \nwars which followed the French Eevolution, it was \ndivided among different Sovereigns of Germany, and \nhence its name has disappeared from our modern maps. \n\nThe position and great wealth of the Palatinate \nfrequently attracted the attention of its more powerful \nneighbours, and led to its inhabitants being familiar \nwith the horrors of war. But "at no period of their \nhistory were the Palatines subjected to greater atroci- \nties than during the reign of Louis the Fourteenth, the \nprofessed patron of the arts and sciences ; and this, too, \njust at that period in the history of France denomi- \nnated the golden age of its refinement. At one time \nthe principal cities of the Lower Palatinate were \npillaged and burned ; the defenceless inhabitants were \nhunted into the fields and woods, where many of them, \nstripped of their clothing, were left to perish with \ncold ; others were not even permitted to take refuge in \nGerman districts, but were driven into the French ter- \nritory, and forced to remain. The sacred quiet of the \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\n21 \n\n\n\ngrave was no security against French avarice. The \nsilver coffins of the ancient Salic emperors, in the \nCathedral of Spires, were removed, and the venerated \nbones scattered upon the ground. In the struggle \nbetween France and Germany for the Spanish succes- \nsion, which involved nearly all the European powers, \nthese scenes were renewed. In the space of only two \nmonths, it is said, they levied contributions to the \namount of nine millions of florins. Houses and villages \nwere laid waste by fire and sword."* In short, " the \nentire country was laid waste ; the Elector Palatine \ncould see from the towers of Manheim, his capital, no \nless than two cities, and twenty-five villages, on fire at \nonce."t Under these circumstances the terrified in- \nhabitants fled in thousands, with their children, to \nthe camp of the Duke of Marlborough, who, with \nEugene, Prince of Savoy, commanded the allied \narmies. \n\nThe reader will eagerly ask, " What had these Pala- \ntines done 1 What was their crime ? " The answer is, \nthey were Protestants of a sturdy type, and this was \ncrime enough in the eyes of Turenne, and his bigoted \nPopish master, Louis the Fourteenth. Germany was \nthe birth-place of Luther, and of the Reformation : \nthe principles of the Great Reformer found their way \ninto the hearts and homes of the inhabitants of the \nPalatinate, and they gloried in bearing his honoured \nname. It was this which brought down upon their \n\n* Rev. George G. Saxe, M.A. \n\nf Dr. Stevens\'s History of the M. E. Church, L, 49. \n\n\n\n22 \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\ndefenceless heads the wrath of the Papacy, as upon \nthe Waldenses, and Albigenses, with whom they were \nprobably connected by blood ;* and which ultimately \ndrove them to seek a home for themselves and their \nchildren under the Protestant flag of Old England. \nBefore we bid farewell to Germany, the reader would \nprobably like to ask whether there is any evidence of \nthe piety and devotedness of the Palatines when in \ntheir own country? On this important point I have \nnot been able to find any information of a satisfactory \nkind. At the same time, we must remember that Ger- \nmany was not merely the home of Protestantism, but \nof Moravianism also ; and the presumption is that \nsuch an important section of professing Protestants, \nas inhabited the Palatinate, with so inspiring a history, \nwere not strangers to the religion of Count Zinzendorf, \nPeter Bohler, Christian David, and other great lights \nof the Moravian Church of that day. The following \nextract from a paper on " Palatine History," by the \nRev. G. Miller, of Canada \xe2\x80\x94 himself an Irish Pala- \ntine, like Embury \xe2\x80\x94 supplies the best information on \nthe subject which has fallen in my way. Mr. Miller \nsays, " We have proof in corroboration of the fact, \nthat the Palatines on leaving Germany and settling in \nIreland were not all destitute of the salutary effects of \n\n* The bloody persecutions of the "Waldenses led to their emi- \ngration in crowds into Bohemia, and other parts of Germany, \nwhere they united with the Lutherans and Moravians. \xe2\x80\x94 See an \ninteresting series of papers on " The Palatines in America \nby G. P. Disosway, Esq. \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\n23 \n\n\n\nthe German Eeformation. They came to the country \npossessed of some of the best theological works, written \nby their reformed Divines. Often have I heard an aged \ngrandfather read, in the spirit of ardent devotion, some \nof those books. To the juvenile hearer, it appeared, \nhe felt what he read, though not understood by him, \nas the reading was in the German language. They also \nseemed divested of the perplexities of thought, occa- \nsioned by the theological controversies which prevailed \namong Calvinists, Anabaptists, Socinians, and other \nparties, in their country. Aware of the unprovoked \nsufferings of the past, in the theatre of Papal tyranny, \nviolence, and bloodshed, they ever seemed fixed in their \nviews respecting Protestantism and Popery, as unalter- \nably antagonistic." This old worthy was one of the \noriginal band who found a home in Ireland, and, doubt- \nless, there were not a few of the same type amongst \nthose who took refuge in the camp of Marlborough. \n\nIn the year 1709, Queen Anne, hearing of the dis- \ntressed condition of this interesting people, sent a fleet \nto Eotterdam, and brought about seven thousand of \nthem to England. They were encamped and fed at \nCamberwell and Blackheath Commons. About three \nthousand of this number were sent to New York, \nthen a British settlement ; " but, not having been re- \nceived kindly, they went to Pennsylvania, and, being \nthere greatly encouraged by the Quakers, they invited \nover some thousands of German and Swiss Protestants, \nwho soon made this country flourishing."* Many of \n\n* Haydn\'s Dictionary of Dates. Vincent\'s Edition. \n\n\n\n24 \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\nthese ultimately settled in North Carolina. "We give \na few of the names of those who settled in America \xe2\x80\x94 \nErantz Lucas, Deitrich Klein, Conrad Frederich, Ludwig, \nHenrich Newkirk, Keiser, John Martin, Casper Hartwig, \nChristopher Warner, Hermanus Hoffman, Eudolph, Neff, \nSchmidt, Schumacher, Lenhard, John Peter Zenger, \nPhilip Miiller, Schaffer, Peter Wagner, Straub, Hen- \nrich Man, Eberhard, Kremer, Eranke, Eoss, Peter \nBecker, Christian Meyer, Godfry Pidler, Weller, George \nMathias, Christo Hagedorn, Pinck, John William Dill, \nBernhard, Conradt, Bellinger, &c, &c. \n\nOwing to the conflicting statements of those who \nhave written on the subject, I have experienced consi- \nderable difficulty in ascertaining the probable number \nthat ultimately settled in Ireland. We have seen that \nabout 7,000 came in the first instance to England, and \nthat of this number about 3,000 were sent to the \nBritish settlements in North America, a large propor- \ntion of whom ultimately settled about Pennsylvania, \nNorth Carolina, and Maryland. Of the remaining four \nthousand, a few families settled in England, and a few \nmore in the County Kerry, and other parts of Ireland : \nbut the main body settled on the estate of Lord South- \nwell, in the neighbourhood of Eathkeale, County \nLimerick. One or two documents, now before me, say \nthat " about fifty families settled on Lord Southwell\'s \nestate."* A carefully-written paper by the Eev. G. G. \nSaxe, M. A., says \xe2\x80\x94 " Of those who remained, five hun- \ndred families removed to Ireland, and settled princi- \n* Dr. G. M. Roberts, and Dr. Stevens. \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\n25 \n\n\n\npally in the County of Limerick."* Mr. Wesley, who \nis generally very accurate, named one hundred and ten \nfamilies as the gross number that originally settled on \nLord Southwell\'s estate. The following is his record, \nunder date Friday, June 23rd, 1758 : \xe2\x80\x94 " I rode over to \nCourt-Matrix, a colony of Germans, whose parents came \nout of the Palatinate, about fifty years ago. Twenty \nfamilies of them settled here ; twenty more at Killiheen, \na mile off; fifty at Balligarane, about two miles eastward ; \nand twenty at Pallas, four miles farther, "t At a later \ndate he speaks of the Germans at Killfinnen, ;\xc2\xa3 and \nelsewhere, but the probability is that these came \nover at a subsequent date, and were not amongst \nthe original settlers of 1709. The probability is that \nfrom five hundred to a thousand persons settled \non Lord Southwell\'s estate : many more about New- \nmarket^ and Killfinnen in the County Limerick, and \nthat the remainder were scattered in various parts of \nIreland, the majority of whom ultimately found a home \nand a final resting-place in the far West. The follow- \ning is a tolerably complete list of the names of those \nfamilies w r ho settled on Lord Southwell\'s estate : in \nseveral instances there were two or more families of the \nsame name : \xe2\x80\x94 Baker, Barhman, Barrabier, Benner, \nBethel, Bowen, Bowman, Bovinizer, Brethower, Cole, \nCoach, Corneil, Cronsberry, Dobe, Dulmage, Embury, \n\n* Ladies\' Repository. May, 1859. \nf "Wesley\'s Journal, II. p. 429. \n% Ibid, III. p. 214. (June, 1765.) \n\xc2\xa7 Probably identical with Pallaskenry. \n\n\n\n26 \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\nFizzle, Grunse, Guier, Heck, Hoffman, Hifle, Heavener, \nGlozier (probably Legear of our day), Lawrence, Lowes, \nLedwich, Long, Miller, Mich, Modlen, Xeizer, Piper, \nBhineheart, Eose, Eodenbucber, Euclile, Switzer, Spar- \nling, Stack, St. John, St. Ledger, Strangle, Sleeper, \nShoemaker, Shier, Smeltzer, Shoultace, Shanewise, \nTesley (probably Teskey of onr day), Tettler, Urshel- \nbaugh, Williams, and Young. They were allowed eight \nacres of ground under lease, for each man, woman, and \nchild, at five shillings per acre, and the Government, \nin order to encourage the Protestant interest in the \ncountry, engaged to pay their rent for twenty years. \nIt also supplied each man with a musket, called " a \nQueen Anne," to protect himself and family. Those \ncapable of bearing arms were enrolled in the free \nyeomanry of the country, and were known as the \n" German Fusiliers," or " True Blues," commanded by \none Captain Brown. It is probable that Lord South- \nwell\'s leases were for three lives, or fifty years, and that, \non the expiration of this period, an exorbitant rent was \ndemanded for the land ; which will explain the fearful \ntide of emigration which set in about the year 1760, \nand to which Mr. Wesley several times refers in his \njournal. \n\nThe following extracts will be read with interest. \nThey will serve to show that the wretched policy of \ndriving industrious Protestants from Ireland \xe2\x80\x94 with \nwhich we have been so sadly familiar in modern times \n\xe2\x80\x94 was not unknown in our unhappy land more than a \ncentury ago. "Wednesday, 16th July, 1760. \xe2\x80\x94 I rode \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\n27 \n\n\n\nto Newmarket, which was another German settlement. \nBut the poor settlers, with all their diligence and fru- \ngality, could not procure even the coarsest food to eat, \nand the meanest raiment to put on, under their merciful \nlandlords; so that most of them, as well as those at \nBalligarane (Ballingran), have been forced to seek bread \nin other places, some of them in distant parts of Ire- \nland, but the greater part in America."* " Friday, June \n14, 1765. \xe2\x80\x94 About noon I preached at Bally garene (now \ncalled Ballingran), to the small remains of the poor \nPalatines. As they could not get food and raiment here \nwith all their diligence and frugality, part are scattered \nup and down the kingdom, and part gone to America. \nI stand amazed! Have landlords no common sense \n(whether they have common humanity or no), that they \nwill suffer such tenants as these to be starved away from \nthem."t " Thursday, May 21, 1767. \xe2\x80\x94 I preached about \nnoon at Balligarane, to what is left of the poor Palatines. \nMany are gone to America; many scattered up and \ndown in various parts of the kingdom. Everywhere \nthey are patterns of industry and frugality. "J \n\nI copy the following notices of this interesting people \nfrom two books written towards the close of the last \ncentury. "The Palatines have several other villages \n(beside Court-Matrix) in the county, and have inter- \nmarried with the natives. They generally have free- \nhold leases for three lives, and are not cottiers to any \n\n* Wesley\'s Journal. III. p. 10. \nflbid., III. p. 214. \nI fMd. t III. p. 266-7. \n\n\n\n28 \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\nfarmer. The labour of the natives is commonly bal- \nanced with rent \xe2\x80\x94 the Palatines are paid for their work \nin money. Their customs differ from the Irish ; they \nsometimes have their feeding land in common ; they \nsow their potatoes with the plough in drills, and \nplough them out \xe2\x80\x94 one third of the dung does in this \nmethod. They plough without a driver; a boy has \nbeen known to drive four horses ; and some ploughs \nhave a hopper which sows the land. Their course of \ncrops is \xe2\x80\x94 1, potatoes; 2, wheat; 3, wheat; 4, oats. 1, \npotatoes; 2, barley; 3, wheat; 4, oats."* \n\n" The Palatines preserve their language, but it is de- \nclining ; they sleep between two beds ; they appoint \na Burgomaster, to whom they appeal in all disputes. \nThey are industrious men, and have leases from the \nproprietor of the land at a reasonable rent. They are \nconsequently better fed and clothed than the generality \nof the Irish peasants. Besides, their mode of hus- \nbandry, and crops, are better than those of their neigh- \nbours. . . They keep their cows housed in winter, \nfeeding them with hay and oaten straw ; their houses \nare remarkably clean, to which they have stable, cow- \nhouse, and lodge for their plough, and neat kitchen gar- \ndens. The women are very industrious, and perform \nmany things which the Irish women could never be \nprevailed on to do. Besides their domestic employ- \nments and the care of their children, they reap the corn, \nplough the ground, and assist the men in everything. \nIn short, the Palatines have benefited the country by \n* Young\'s Tour in Ireland, II. p. 138. (1779.) \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\n29 \n\n\n\nincreasing tillage ; and are a laborious, independent \npeople, who are mostly employed on their own small \nfarms."* \n\nMr. and Mrs. Hall, in their valuable work on Ire- \nland, give the following description of the Palatines, \nwhich many will read with interest. "Even now they \nare very different in character, and distinct in habits \nfrom the people of the country. We viewed several of \ntheir houses in the neighbourhood of Adare ; and the \nneatness, good order, and quantity and quality of the \nfurniture \xe2\x80\x94 useful and ornamental \xe2\x80\x94 too surely indicated \nthat we were not in a merely Irish cabin. Huge flitches \nof bacon hung from the rafters; the chairs were in \nseveral instances composed of walnut-tree and oak; \nmassive and heavy, although rudely carved chests, con- \ntained, as we were told, the house linen and woollen, \nand the wardrobes of the inhabitants. The elders of \nthe family preserve, in a great degree, the language, \ncustoms, and religion of their old country ; but the \nyounger mingle and marry with their Irish neighbours. \n\n" The men are tall, fine, stout fellows, as our Irish \nfriend said to follow; but there is a calm and stern \nseverity and reserve in their aspect that is anything but \ncheering to a traveller to meet ; particularly after being \naccustomed to the brilliant smiles and hearty \' God save \nye kindly,\' so perpetually on the peasant\'s lips, and \nalways in his eyes. This characteristic is also remark- \nable in the cottages. ... In their dealings they are con- \nsidered upright and honourable. Like the Quakers of \n* Ferrar\'s History of Limerick, p. 412-13. (1786.) \n\n\n\n30 \n\n\n\nTHT PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\nold, they do not interfere with either politics or \nreligion ; are cautious as to land taking, and in the \ntroublous times, when the generality of persons were \nafraid to walk forth, the quiet Palatine pursued his \navocations without let or hindrance, being rarely, if ever, \nmolested. Many of the old Palatines used to have their \nBibles buried with them, and this accounts for our being \nunable to find any other than English Bibles in their \nhouses. We failed, indeed, to discover any books in \ntheir own language ; but one of the elders told us they \nhad given many of them to the soldiers of the German \nLegion, as keepsakes, while that body was quartered in \nthe neighbourhood. They are at present, both as re- \ngards their customs and traditions, only a relic of the \npast ; and yet one so strongly marked and so peculiar, \nthat it will take a long time before all trace of the \n\' Fatherland\' is obliterated. Their superstitions, also, \nsavour strongly of the banks of the Rhine; but they \nare careful in communicating them, which may proceed \nfrom their habitual reserve. They retain the names of \ntheir ancestors, such as 6 Fritz,\' \' Meta,\' \xc2\xa3 Ella/ \xc2\xa3 Euth,\' \n\' Ebenezer,\' which are common among them, and sound \nstrangely when mingled with the more aboriginal \nDinnys and Nellys."\' 55 \' \n\nThe industry and social comfort which distinguish the \nPalatines have attracted the attention of all who have \nwritten about them, and deservedly so. But it is ano- \nther and more difficult thing to explain the cause of \ntheir superiority to many of the peasantry around \n* Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall on Ireland. \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\n31 \n\n\n\nthem. Kohl, himself a German, resolves it into a \nmatter of race. He says \xe2\x80\x94 " It is an everlasting subject \nof controversy in Ireland, between the friends of the \nIrish (or Celts) and the adherents of the English, \nbetween the Celtomanes and the Anglomanes, whether \nthe misery and the poverty of Ireland are attri- \nbutable to the English and their tyranny alone, or in a \nstill greater measure to the indolence and torpidity of \nthe Irish character. These Germans, nourishing on the \nsame soil, and under the same political relations, seem \nto decide this question not much in favour of the \nCelts."* But the true cause of the poverty and \nwretchedness of the Irish Celts lies deeper than the \nmere fact of race : \xe2\x80\x94 it is Popery that has impoverished \nthem and kept them down, shedding its baneful in- \nfluence like the Upas tree over all beneath its influence, \nas seen in Spain, beneath the sunny skies of Italy, and \nin poor priest-ridden Ireland. On the contrary, it is \nProtestantism that has elevated the Palatines, the \nsturdy inhabitants of Ulster, and the thousands of \nstalwart Methodists, respectable, and respected, who \nare to be found in our various circuits throughout the \nland. Many of these, for intelligence, manly vigour, \nand success, will compare favourably with any of the \nsame class that could be produced in England, or Scot- \nland, or Germany. That Old Book, the free use of \nwhich is denied the vast proportion of the inhabitants \nof this unfortunate land, has said plainly enough \xe2\x80\x94 and \n\n* Travels in Ireland. By J. G. Kohl. London, 1844. A \nbook well worth reading. \n\n\n\n32 THE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\nIreland from north to south attests its stern truth \xe2\x80\x94 \n" He that tilleth his land shall have plenty \nof bread ; but he that followeth after vain \npersons shall have poverty enough." (pro verbs, \nxxviii. 19.)* \n\n\n\n* The following touches one aspect of the case against Popery: \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" It was once endeavoured to be explained to me, that the \ncomparative lowness of condition of the Irish (Romish) peasantry- \narose from a fact that might not have been brought before me \xe2\x80\x94 \nnamely, that an Irish Romanist\'s year has but 200 days " ! I \nconfessed that the proposition was novel to me, and my infor- \nmant, with perfect gravity, thus logically, and, as he consi- \ndered, unanswerably, demonstrated it : \xe2\x80\x94 " You will allow," said \nhe, "an Irishman has 52 Sabbaths, in which he should not \nwork. Granted. Then there are 52 days. Not an Irishman \nthat doesn\'t attend at least one market weekly : there go 52 \nmore days. Find an Irishman, if you can, that does not attend \none fair a month : there go 12 more days. Where is the man, \nif he be at all respectable, that won\'t devote his afternoon, or \nhalf-day, to the wake or funeral of his friend or neighbour : and \nit\'s a poor neighbourhood that there won\'t be one death in the \nweek : there go 26 days more. Then, you know there are \nSaints\'-days, and holy- days, and our birth-days ; and maybe Dan \nwill be getting up a precurshur, or a tithe-maiting, or the likes \no\' that, which a man is bound to attend for the love of Ould \nIreland ; and now make your reckoning, and see whether a man \nwill have more than 200 days in a year he can call his own." \xe2\x80\x94 \nR. Montgomery Martin, on Ireland Before and A fter the Union, \np. 191. A book well worth the attention of the so-called Protes- \ntants of our degenerate times, who hand over the Constitution \nof the country by piecemeal into the hands of the Man of Sin, \n\n\n\nTHE PALATINES IN IRELAND. \n\n\n\n33 \n\n\n\nand call their apostacy from the principles which cost their \nfathers their blood by the agreeable name \xe2\x80\x94 Liberalism ! \n\n" We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow ; \nOur wiser sotis, no doubt, will one day think us so. " \n\n\n\nThe gross number of Palatines at present on the Eathkeale \nCircuit is about 600, of whom 244 returned themselves as \nMethodists at the last Census ; and many more would have so \nentered themselves but that they misunderstood the matter, \nand as they were not actually church members, went in with \nthe Episcopalians. About 300 are Episcopalians, and from \n20 to 25 have, by intermarriages, gone over to Rome. The \ngrandfather of the present Lord Southwell married a French \nlady, a Eomanist, and himself and family joined the Romanists, \nwhich will, to some extent, explain the growing influence of \nPopery on the estate. Lord Dunraven, of Adare, on whose \nproperty many of the Palatines live, has also gone from the \nChurch of England to the Church of Rome, so that it is no \nmatter of surprise if some of the congregation follow so in- \nfluential an example. \n\n\n\n\nC \n\n\n\n51 \n\n(Dttgfat att& p\xc2\xbbpc\xc2\xbb8 \nJletjjoMsm amongst tfje palatines. \n\n> < m+^ < \n\n\n\n" Nearly forty years ago, that excellent man, Mr. Edwards, of Bedford- \nbury (Mr. Fletcher\'s leader), told ine that he and the other leaders in \nLondon lamented that Mr. Wesley and his brother should spend so much \ntime in Ireland, and send so many preachers thither. Mr. Wesley replied : \n\' Have patience, and Ireland will repay you.\' \'We could hardly think it,\' \nsaid the good man ; 1 but when Mr. Walsh came we saw that Mr. Wesley\'s \nfaith was better than ours.\' " \xe2\x80\x94 Moore\'s Life of Wesley, vol ii. , p. 132. 1825. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. \n\n\n\n\xc2\xa9right aitir ^xagtm \n\nof \n\n$jjU%fciam amongst % |)da;thm \n\ncharacter and appearance of the palatine villages \xe2\x80\x94 \nballingran \xe2\x80\x94 character of the palatines prior to the \nintroduction of methodism \xe2\x80\x94 mr. wesley\'s testimony \xe2\x80\x94 \nsome honourable exceptions\xe2\x80\x94 philip guter \xe2\x80\x94 introduc- \ntion of methodism into limerick by robert swindells \n\xe2\x80\x94 his bravery in preaching on the king\'s parade, march \n17, 1749 \xe2\x80\x94 " swaddlers" \xe2\x80\x94 mrs. bennis, of limerick \xe2\x80\x94 \nthomas walsh the ultimate fruit of swindells\'s sermon \non the street \xe2\x80\x94 walsh\'s character and value as a man \nand a minister\xe2\x80\x94 swindells and the first methodist \nclass in limerick \xe2\x80\x94 mother of the rev. william myles\xe2\x80\x94 \nthomas williams \xe2\x80\x94 his popularity, calvinism, and fall \n\xe2\x80\x94 origin of methodism amongst the palatines \xe2\x80\x94 first \nclass at newmarket \xe2\x80\x94 wesley* s first visit to them \xe2\x80\x94 \nwalsh commences to preach amongst the palatines \xe2\x80\x94 \ncownley and other labourers \xe2\x80\x94 wesley\'s second visit \nto limerick \xe2\x80\x94 first irish conference \xe2\x80\x94 wesley and cal- \nvinism \xe2\x80\x94 philip guier and five others received on trial \nas preachers \xe2\x80\x94 wesley\'s first visit to ballingran in \n1756 \xe2\x80\x94 thomas walsh preaching in irish \xe2\x80\x94 wesley\'s \nseventh visit to ireland \xe2\x80\x94irish conference of 1758 \xe2\x80\x94 \nphilip embury and william thompson received on trial \n\xe2\x80\x94 illness of walsh \xe2\x80\x94 his death, and mental suffering \nexplained \xe2\x80\x94 important document, respecting walsh\'s \nlast illness, from the rev. john dinnen \xe2\x80\x94 charles \nwesley\'s lines on his death\xe2\x80\x94 wesley\'s further visits \n\n\n\n38 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nTO THE PALATINES \xe2\x80\x94 DEATH OF PHILIP GOTER \xe2\x80\x94 WESLEY\'S LAST \nVISIT \xe2\x80\x94 GREAT REVIVAL AMONGST THEM \xe2\x80\x94 REV. MR. INGRAM, \nOF LIMERICK \xe2\x80\x94 WESLEY\'S FINAL TESTIMONY AS TO THE CHA- \nRACTER OF THE IRISH CONFERENCE IN 1789 \xe2\x80\x94 HIS INTEREST \nIN IRELAND, AND IN THE PALATINES, AND HIS REMARKABLE \nPREDICTION CONCERNING IRELAND, AND ITS FULFILMENT. \n\n\xc2\xa5E have seen that Court-Matrix, KQliheen, Bal- \nlingran, and Pallas were the principal settlements \nof the Palatines in the Connty Limerick, and that fifty \nfamilies out of one hundred and ten settled at Ballin- \ngran. So far as I can learn, these places as villages \nhad no existence previous to the arrival of the Ger- \nmans. The name now given to the village was pro- \nbably the designation of the townland, and, when the \nGermans settled on the ground, the name of the town- \nland passed over to the new German village or settle- \nment. On taking possession, the Palatines erected \nsmall, neat cottages, with farm houses, &c, each man \non his own ground ; but the houses were rather in \nsmall detached groups than in the form of a street. \nCourt-Matrix was an exception to this arrangement, \nas it was built in the form of a square. The houses, a \nhundred years ago, were probably twice or three times \nmore numerous than at present ; and, as it was in the \nsummer when Mr. Wesley always visited these villages, \nit is no matter of surprise that he was literally charmed \nwith them, as they must have presented a most lively \nand picturesque appearance to the eye of a stranger. \n\nAs the Palatines had brought no German minister \nwith them, and for many years after their settlement in \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. \n\n\n\n30 \n\n\n\nIreland understood little or no English, they lost the \nhabit of attending on public worship, and gradually (to \nuse Mr. Wesley\'s language) " became eminent for drunk- \nenness, cursing, swearing, and an utter neglect of re- \nligion."* As a class, they were attached to the form of \ngodliness, and some of the elder ones, doubtless, knew \nsomething of its power; but, having no Protestant \nminister worthy of the name within reach, and no one \nto care for their souls, they rapidly degenerated, aban- \ndoned even the form of godliness, and became distin- \nguished for every kind of wickedness. One shudders, \neven at this distance, as he thinks upon the moral state \nof this interesting people, and the proud flood of un- \ngodliness in the midst of which they and their children \ndwelt, during the forty years which intervened from \ntheir coming to Ireland, and the day when first they \nheard the Gospel of Christ from the lips of a Methodist \npreacher. \n\nAmid the general degeneracy, it is likely that there \nwere some honourable exceptions, though their names \nare unknown to us. But, one name demands special \nnotice here \xe2\x80\x94 the honoured name of Philip Guiek.t He \nlived at Ballingran, and was Burgomaster, or Magistrate, \nand also master of the German School in that place. \nBefore the introduction of Methodism he had consider- \nable influence amongst the Palatines, and after his union \n\n* "Wesley\'s Journal, II. p. 429. \n\n1 1 find this name spelled Geyer, Guyer, Gier, and Guier. I \nprefer the last form as it is thus spelled in the list of original \nsettlers, given in former chapter. \n\n\n\n40 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nwith the Methodists, that influence, as we shall see by \nand by, considerably increased. For the present I must \npass from Philip ; his honoured name will come up again \nin the course of this narrative. \n\nThe first Methodist preacher who proclaimed the \ngospel in Limerick, was Eobert Swindells, on the 17th \nof March, 1 749. He was one of the choice spirits of \nthe Itinerancy ; and as a preacher, a special favourite \nwith Wesley. He came over with John Wesley on the \noccasion of his second visit to Ireland, in March, 1748, \nand accompanied him in his tour, preaching with great \npower. He accompanied Charles Wesley in the autumn \nof the same year, to Cork, and various parts of the South \nof Ireland \xe2\x80\x94 a visit which issued in the introduction of \nMethodism into Bandon, and other important centres of \nMethodist influence in the South. After Charles Wesley\'s \nreturn to England, Swindells remained, with Cownley, \n\nLARWOOD, J O NATHAN EEEVES, THOMAS WlLLIAMS, WlL- \n\nliam Tucker, and Charles Skelton. In the true \nspirit of Methodist evangelism, these brave itinerants \ntraversed the entire country, preacliing in the street, \nafter the primitive fashion. Swindells had no invitation \nto Limerick, but had an impression that he should go. \nOn Patrick\'s Day, he opened his commission by \npreaching on the King\'s Parade twice. With char- \nacteristic intrepidity, he selected the hours when \nthe crowds were coming out of mass, and speedily was \nsurrounded by a noble congregation. He seems to have \ngot a patient, respectful hearing at the first service; but \ndid not fare quite so well at the second. Mr. Myles \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. \n\n\n\n41 \n\n\n\nintimates that "no rudeness was offered to him" at \neither service, but that the people were delighted with \nthe hymns and singing.* This is a complete mistake, \nas the following extract proves. "I saw Mr. Robert \nSwindells, who was the first that came here to preach, \npass by my door with a great mob after him, who hal- \nlooed and made a great noise, and sometimes personally \ninsulted him. Upon my inquiring who he was, they \ntold me that he was one of the people called \' Swaddlers ;\'t \nbut I had no desire or intention of hearing him preach, \nyet I thought it a pity that a portly, well-looking man, \nand by every outward appearance, a gentleman, should \nbe so shamefully used, and felt a particular concern for \nhim. I did not go to hear him, nor would my pride \nsuffer me to mix with such a rabble; but afterwards, \nhearing a great account of the sermon from a person who \n\n* Eev. W. Myles on Methodism in Limerick. \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley an \nMagazine, 1825. 595. \n\n+ This name was first given to John Cennick, a Moravian \n(formerly a Methodist) under the following circumstances. In \n1746, he preached in Swift\'s Alley, in Dublin (I suppose on \nChristmas Day), from the words "Ye shall find the babe wrapped \nin swaddling clothes," &c. A priest was in the congregation, \nwho, as Mr. Wesley naively says, "probably did not know the \nexpression was in the Bible \xe2\x80\x94 a book he was not much, acquainted \nwith" \xe2\x80\x94 and he called Cennick a \' \' swaddler. \' \' The mob thought \nthe designation quite too good to be lost, and when the Metho- \ndists assembled the following year in Dolphin\'s Barn, they \ncalled them "swaddlers." The name spread with remarkable \nrapidity. Hence, in 1749, in the famous riots at Cork, the mob \nshouted through the streets, night and day, " Five pounds for \na swaddler\'s head !" &c. \n\n\n\n42 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nwas there, I resolved to go in the evening, in company \nwith him, which I did, and was much affected."* Singu- \nlarly enough, this lady\'s name was the first entered in \nthe class paper, when a few days after, a society was \nformed in Limerick. She became distinguished amongst \nthe Methodists of that day for eminent devotedness, and \nfor many years was a particular friend and valued cor- \nrespondent of Wesley\'s. Swindells, so far from being \nintimidated by the mob, preached again on the following \nday, at the Market House, in the Irishtown, and \ndoubtless with a reception of a similar kind. As I write \nthese lines, I feel a respect which I cannot utter, nor \nyet repress, for this honoured and devoted man. To \nthink of him, without money, or friends, or patronage \xe2\x80\x94 \na solitary Methodist preacher \xe2\x80\x94 alone and yet not alone, \nstanding up to preach the glorious gospel of the blessed \nGod, on the open street, in popish Limerick, a hundred \nand seventeen years ago ! What a fearless, intrepid \nheart must have throbbed within that manly breast! \nIf any man should think that Swindells displayed small \ncourage then, let him try it now, or on next Patrick\'s \nDay, and I venture to predict his courage will cool down \nas rapidly as that of the immortal "hundred" from Eng- \nland and Scotland who essayed the conquest of Ireland, \nin the summer of 1853. t \n\n* Mrs. Bennis\' Letters to Rev. John Wesley. \n\nt One of the best of this notable band, on his way to his six \nweeks\' campaign in the South, preached in one of our churches \non Sunday morning. I was behind him in the pulpit. The ser- \nmon was founded on Psalms xviii. 29 \xe2\x80\x94 \' \' For by thee have I run \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 43 \n\nOne of the texts from which Swindells preached on \nthe Parade on Patrick\'s Day was u Come unto me all \nye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you \nrest" (Matt. xi. 28). Among his congregation was a \nyoung man, a Romanist, educated for the priesthood, \nwhose soul was oppressed, like Bunyan\'s Pilgrim, with \nthe burden of guilt, and whose anguished spirit was \npanting for a message like this. It was the first Metho- \ndist sermon he ever heard. It was the dawn of a new \nday in his history, as well as in the life history of a \nmultitude in Ireland and England whom no man could \nnumber. A few weeks after he heard Thomas Wil- \nliams with deep and growing interest, and joined the \nsociety at Newmarket, September 29th, 1749. Early \nin 1750, under the ministry of William Tucker, he \nobtained a glorious sense of sins forgiven. That young \nman \xe2\x80\x94 the first-fruits of street- preaching in Ireland to \n\nthrough a troop ; and by my God have 1 leaped over a wall." \nThe sermon was very glowing ; and the preacher would remind \none of Job\'s description of a war-horse. He was literally im- \npatient to reach the moral battle-field. He thought that the \ncondition of the Eomanists of Ireland was to be traced to the in- \ndolence and want of " English pluck," on the part of Irishmen, \nMethodists of course included. In vain I assured him that he \nwas likely, ere long, to know more about it. He got to the end \nof his route by Wednesday evening, without more than attempt- \ning a single service ; and during that service, a woman struck \nhim with an iron instrument, amid a serious riot, inflicting a \nslight wound on the right hand. On the very following Sabbath, \nafter the delivery of the brave discourse above referred to, I heard \nhim preach, with his hand in a sling, from the same pulpit. \nThe text now was, My soul cleaveth to the dust ! \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nChrist \xe2\x80\x94 within a brief period expanded into a Metho- \ndist evangelist, second only to Wesley himself, for \nseraphic piety, sanctified enthusiasm in the glorious \nwork of winning souls to Christ, and genuine apostolic \nsuccess. " Thou knowest my desire," he wrote; "thou \nknowest there has never been a saint upon earth whom \nI do not desire to resemble in doing and suffering thy \nwhole will. I would walk with thee, my God, as Enoch \ndid. I would follow thee to a land unknown, as \nAbraham did. I would renounce all for thee, as did \nMoses and Paul. I would, as did Stephen, seal thy truth \nwith my blood ! " Concerning him, Southey says " that \nhis life might indeed almost convince a Catholic that \nsaints are to be found in other communions as well as \nin the Church of Some." Wesley, writing to his \nbrother Charles, said of him, " I love, admire, and \nhonour him, and wish we had six preachers in all Eng- \nland of his spirit. When, ten years later, he was laid \nin his grave, after a brief but extraordinary career, the \n\'Methodists of England and Ireland mingled their tears \nover the early removal of Thomas Walsh \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" One of the few \xe2\x80\x94 the immortal names, \nThat were not born to die." \n\nAbout a month after Swindells\'s first visit, he returned \nand formed the first Methodist class in Limerick. \nMeantime, Williams had visited Limerick, and attracted \nconsiderable attention by preaching, like Swindells, on \nthe street. It is likely that a riot would have ensued \nat Limerick as bad or worse, if possible, than the famous \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 45 \n\n\n\nriot which has given Cork such an unenviable notoriety \nin the annals of Methodism, but that a regiment of \nHighlanders was just then quartered in the city, about \nsixty of whom had been members of the infant church \nat Athlone. They attended the services on the street, \nand sung the Methodist hymns with great spirit and \neffect. Mr. "Wesley says " they were men fit to appear \nbefore princes;" of most commanding appearance; in \ntheir absence Swindells and Williams would, in all pro- \nbability, have been torn to pieces by the infuriated \nmob. \n\nMr. Myles says that Williams "formed the first \nsociety in Limerick," but the testimony of Mrs. Bennis \nis most conclusive in favour of Swindells, as given above. \n" In about a month after Mr. Swindells returned, and \nfinding many were willing to receive the Word, he soon \nestablished a society, of which I was determined to be \none ; I was one of the first that joined; I believe the \nfirst that stood up and gave him my name."* Amongst \nthe first-fruits of Williams\'s ministry in Limerick was a \nlady, who a few years after became the mother of the \nlate Eev. William Mtles, author of the well-known \n" Chronological History of Methodism."t \n\nSwindells now went on to Cork, leaving Williams in \ncharge of Limerick. "He was a man of showy talents, \nwho was listened to by all sorts and conditions. "J His \n\n* Mrs. Bennis\' Letters. \n\nt Memoir of the Rev. William Myles, by the late Eev. Dr. \nBeecham, in Wesley an Magazine, May, 1831. \n\n+ Alexander Knox, Esq., speaking of Williams when in Derry. \n\n\n\n46 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\npopularity was immense, and within a brief period 300 \nmembers were enrolled in society. Mr. Myles adds, \n" But when discipline and the doctrine of self-denial \ncame to be explained and enforced in the society meet- \nings, two-thirds of them fell away before twelve months \nhad elapsed." Williams, before he left England, as the \nresult of contact with the Moravians, became tinged \nwith Calvinism, and " leaned" to some Antmominian \nerrors, not unlike the Plymouth heresy of our day. He \nwas, to all appearance, a devoted, zealous man, but was \nnot in Wesley\'s confidence. Calvinism subsequently \nwrought his ruin. After his expulsion, Wesley speaks \nof him as one " to whom \' the syren song\' would be \ngrateful, that believers who are notorious transgressors \nin themselves have a sinless obedience in Christ." He \njoined the Church of England, and became incumbent \nof High- Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. He happened to \nbe the first of Wesley\'s preachers that the Palatines \nheard. He was preaching on the street one day in April, \n1749, surrounded by a vast crowd. Many of the \nPalatines from Newmarket were in town attending the \nassizes. They joined the crowd, and heard with great \ndelight. Some of the older ones said, " This is like the \npreaching we used to hear in Germany." They were \nattracted to hear again and again, and ultimately in- \nvited him and his brave companions to visit their settle- \nments.* It is impossible to say whether it was Swin- \n\n* I follow Mr. Myles in the above account. I find another ac- \ncount in the hand- writing of the late Rev. John Dinnen, who was \nstationed on this circuit in 1786 :\xe2\x80\x94 "How the Gospel was in- \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 47 \n\n\n\ndells or Williams who first embraced this invitation, but \nI think it likely that it was Williams. Swindells, \nwithin a few months, had penetrated all the Palatine \nsettlements, and by Sept., 1749, we find a society formed \nat ISTewmarket, of which Thomas Walsh was a member. \n\nThe progress of Methodism amongst this interesting \npeople was very rapid. Under date, Monday, June 4, \n1750, Wesley writes : \xe2\x80\x94 " I rode to Newmarket, a vil- \nlage near the Shannon, eight miles, as they call it, from \nLimerick. I found the spirit of the people while I was \npreaching; but much more in examining the society. \nFour or five times I was stopped short, and could not go \non, being not able to speak, particularly when I was talk- \n\ntroduced amongst the Palatines \xe2\x80\x94 Two women who lived in \nCourt-Matrix fell out, and used the woman\'s weapon, the \ntongue, very freely. As no strokes were given, one of them \nheard of a court called the Bishop\'s Court, in Limerick, which \nshe was told took cognizance of abusive language. She set off \nto Limerick filled with rage and revenge. "When she arrived in \nthe city the court was shut for that day. She determined to \nstay till next day, and as she walked through the street she \nheard singing in Quay Lane. Curosity led her to stop, and she \nheard a sermon which reached her heart. She returned home \nfree from wrath and revenge, told her neighbours what she had \nheard, and invited them to come to Limerick and hear for \nthemselves. They did so, and as the result a preacher was in \nvited, and preaching has continued there ever since." \xe2\x80\x94 MS. \nSketch of the Rev. John Dinnen, p. 22. 1788. \n\nIt is probable that both these statements are correct, as Mr. \nDinnen\'s narrative may refer to the introduction of Methodism \nto Court-Matrix and Mr. Myles\'s to Newmarket, where we had \nthe first society amongst the Palatines. \n\n\n\n48 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\ning with, a child, about nine years old, whose words \nastonished all that heard. The same spirit we found in \nprayer, so that my voice was well nigh lost among the \nvarious cries of the people."* It was, in all probabi- \nlity, at this meeting, that Wesley first met Thomas \nWalsh, which interview issued in Walsh\'s entrance on \nhis glorious career as a Methodist Itinerant. " I opened \nmy mind," says Walsh, " to that man of God, the Eev. \nMr. John Wesley. I spoke my thoughts freely and \nwithout disguise, desiring his advice on the occasion, \nwhich he sweetly and humbly gave me ; adding, withal, \nthat I might write to him afterwards. I did so, giving \nhim a brief account of my conversion to God, and of \nwhat I experienced in my soul concerning preaching." \nHis answer was as follows : \xe2\x80\x94 " My dear Brother, \xe2\x80\x94 It is \nhard to judge what God has called you to till trial is \nmade. Therefore, when you have an opportunity, you \nmay go to Shronil,t and spend two or three days with \nthe people there. Speak to them in Irish." Swindells \nand Williams had already formed a society at Shronil, \nwhere Mr. Wesley says he " found a handful of serious, \nloving people." Morgan, Walsh\'s biographer, calls the \ninhabitants "Protestant Dissenters." They were pro- \nbably Palatines, who came from Germany at a more \nrecent date than the original settlers. In July, 1750, \nWalsh opened his commission as a Methodist preacher, \namongst this " serious, loving people, by preaching from \nEom. iii., 28 : \xe2\x80\x94 " Therefore, we conclude that a man is \n\n* "Wesley\'s Journal, II. p. 184. \n\nt Not Thornhill, as Dr. Smith says. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 49 \n\njustified by faith, without the deeds of the law." And, \nin the true spirit of the primitive Itinerancy, on the \nfollowing morning from Rom. v. 1 \xe2\x80\x94 " Being justified \nby faith, we have peace with. God, through our Lord \nJesus Christ." Such was the commencement of what \nWesley regarded as the most fruitful ministry which he \nhad ever known. \n\nIt is probable that Philip Guier was appointed the \nleader of the infant churches in the Palatine settle- \nments during this, Wesley\'s first visit. From this \nperiod, till his next visit, in August, 1752, ac- \ncording to his plan at that time, all the Itinerants \nlabouring in Ireland spent a brief period in each place. \nThus, the Palatine settlements were favoured with the \nministry of Cownlet (whom Wesley regarded as the \nbest preacher in the Connexion), Larwood, Skelton, \nWilliam Tucker, Thomas Reade, Jonathan Eeeves, \nJohn Haughton, Jacob Powell, and other veterans of \nthat heroic period, and speedily the moral wilderness \nbloomed and blossomed as the rose. \n\nIn August, 1752, Wesley visited Limerick for the \nsecond time, on which occasion he held the first Con- \nference with his Itinerants in Ireland. The record in \nhis journal is characteristically brief: \xe2\x80\x94 " I spent Friday \nand Saturday in conference with our preachers, and the \nnext week spake with each of the members of the \nsociety, many of whom, I now found, "were rooted and \ngrounded in love," and "zealous of good works." \n\nHappily we have some valuable notes of the proceed- \nings of this first Irish. Conference. The Rev. Samuel \n\nD \n\n\n\n50 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nWood came into possession of some notes taken by one \nof the preachers present, which he published in the \nIrish Methodist Magazine, for 1807, and which were \nrepublished in Myles\'s History of Methodism. The notes \nof Jacob Rowell, which were much more full and accu- \nrate, have been found of late years, and leave us little to \ndesire in the way of information relative to the proceed- \nings of the Conference. The following composed the \nConference : \xe2\x80\x94 John Wesley, Samuel Larwood, John \nHaughton, Joseph Cownley, John Fisher, Thomas \nWalsh, Jacob Eowell, Thomas Kead, Robert Swin- \ndells, John Whitpord, and James Morris, all of whom, \nwith the exception of Morris, may be regarded as \nWesley\'s staff of Itinerants then labouring in Ireland. \nWesley had reason to suspect that the Calvinistic leaven \nhad injured more of his Itinerants than Williams, and \nhe dreaded its baneful influence upon preachers and \npeople as he did the plague. Hence, a large proportion \nof the time of this first Conference was given up to this \nsubject. In answer to the question, "What wrong \ndoctrines have been taught V we find the answer, " Such \nas border on Antinomianism and Calvinism." Baxter\'s \nAphorisms on Justification were then " read carefully, \nand the Scriptures referred to examined, and all objec- \ntions considered and answered." This course was all \nthe more necessary because of the influence of Moravian \nteaching upon Methodism at that time, and many \nof these devoted labourers were young men who had \nhad but little time or opportunity for obtaining clear \nviews as to the doctrinal teaching of the Word of God \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 51 \n\n\n\non these controverted points. At this Conference, \nPhilip Guier, of Ballingran, James Morris, John Ellis, \nJames Wild, Samuel Levick,* and Samuel Hobart, were \nreceived as " fellow-labourers." Philip was received as \nwhat Wesley called " a Local Preacher," as distin- \nguished from an Itinerant. Wesley never intended \nhim to travel, but made him the first Methodist pastor \nof the Palatines. \n\nIn 1756, Wesley again visited Limerick, and now for \nthe first time preached in Ballingran, the home of \nPhilip Embury and Barbara Heck, of whom more by \nand by. Doubtless both were members of his congre- \ngation on the occasion of this interesting visit. The \nfollowing is Wesley\'s record ; how little he thought the \nmighty and far-reaching influence some in that congre- \ngation were destined to exert by and by ! " Wednesday, \nJune 16. \xe2\x80\x94 In the afternoon I rode to Ballygarane \n(Ballingran,) a town of Palatines who came over in \nQueen Anne\'s time. They retain much of the temper \nand manners of their own country, having no resem- \nblance of those among whom they live. I found much \nlife among this plain, artless, serious people. The \nwhole town came together in the evening, and praised \nGod for the consolation. Many of those who are not \noutwardly joined with us walk in the light of God\'s \ncountenance; yea, and have divided themselves into \nclasses, in imitation of our brethren, with whom they \n\n* Called George Levick in new edition of British Minutes, \nand also in the Irish Minutes, copied from them. Misprinted \nLerick in Myles. Fourth Edit. 1813. \n\n\n\n52 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nlive in perfect harmony." "Friday, 18. \xe2\x80\x94 Tn examin- \ning the society, I was obliged to pause several times. \nThe words of the plain, honest people, came with so \nmuch weight, as frequently to stop me for a while, and \nraise a general cry among the hearers. I rode back \nthrough Adair, once a strong and nourishing town, well \nwalled and full of people \xe2\x80\x94 now, without walls and \nalmost without inhabitants \xe2\x80\x94 only a few poor huts \nremain. At a small distance from these are the ample \nruins of three or four convents, delightfully situated by \nthe river, which runs through a most fruitful vale."* \nThomas Walsh accompanied Wesley in this tour, \npreaching to large congregations both in Irish and in \nEnglish. \n\nAmongst the Itinerants stationed in Ireland between \n\nWesley\'s sixth and seventh visits, in addition to some \n\nof those already named, were Christopher Hopper, one \n\nof Wesley\'s choice men; John Murlin, the "weeping \n\nprophet;" Thomas Olivers, one of the ablest men of his \n\nday; Nicholas Gilbert, whom Wesley calls "an \n\nexcellent preacher;" and Paul Greenwood, whom \n\nAtmore denominates "a primitive Christian." All \n\nof these honoured men in turn visited the Palatine \n\nsettlements, and rejoiced in success worthy of apostolic \ntimes. \n\nIn June, 1758, Wesley visited Ireland for the seventh \ntime, accompanied by Swindells, as a travelling com- \npanion. On this occasion he spent several days in \nLimerick, and the Palatine settlements in the neigh- \n* Wesley\'s Journal, II. p. 354. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 53 \n\nbourhood. The following is his record. " Saturday, \nJune 17. \xe2\x80\x94 I met Thomas Walsh once more in Limerick, \nalive, and but just alive. Three of the best physicians \nin these parts have attended him, and all agree that it \nis a lost case \xe2\x80\xa2 that by violent straining of his voice, \nadded to frequent colds, he has contracted a pulmonary \nconsumption, which is now in the last stage, and con- \nsequently beyond the reach of any human help. \nwhat a man, to be snatched away in the strength of his \nyears! Surely thy judgments are a great deep." \n"Wednesday, 21. \xe2\x80\x94 Our little Conference began, at \nwhich fourteen preachers were present. We settled all \nthings here which we judged would be of use to the \npreachers or the societies, and consulted how to remove \nwhatever might be an hindrance to the work of God." \n"Friday, 23. \xe2\x80\x94 I rode over to Court-Matrix, a colony of \nGermans, whose parents came out of the Palatinate about \nfifty years ago. Twenty families of them settled here ; \ntwenty more at Killiheen, a mile off ; fifty at Balligarane \n(Ballingran), about two miles eastward ; and twenty at \nPallas, four miles further. Each family had a few acres \nof ground, on which they built as many little houses. \nThey are since considerably increased in number of \nsouls, though decreased in number of families. Having \nno minister, they were become eminent for drunken- \nness, cursing, swearing, and an utter neglect of religion. \nBut they are washed since they heard and received the \ntruth which is able to save their souls. An oath is now \nrarely heard among them, or a drunkard seen in their \nborders. Court-Matrix is built in the form of a square, \n\n\n\n54 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nin the middle of which, they have placed a pretty large \npreaching-house, hut it would not contain one-half of \nthe congregation, so I stood in a large yard. The wind \nkept off the rain while I was preaching. As soon as I \nended it began."* This was Wesley\'s final interview \nwith Walsh, whom to his latest hour he regarded as the \nmost remarkable man he had ever known. Speaking \nof his biblical knowledge, Wesley said, "I knew a \nyoung man who was so thoroughly acquainted with the \nBible that if he was questioned concerning any Hebrew \nword in the Old, or any Greek word in the l^ew Testa- \nment, he would tell, after a little pause, not only how \noften the one or the other occurred in the Bible, but also \nwhat it meant in every 2>lace. His name was Thomas \nWalsh. Such a master of biblical knowledge I never \nsaw before, and never expect to see again." t It is \nrather a remarkable coincidence that at this Conference, \nwhen Wesley, in the mysterious providence of God, \nwas called to bid farewell to Thomas Walsh, Philip \n* Wesley\'s Journal, II. p. 429. \n\nf Walsh\'s Hebrew Bible fell into tbe bands of tbe late Eev. \nFossey Tackaberry, who prized it above gold. Mr. Tackaberry \nlost his life during the famine fever of 1847. He expired in the \narms of the Eev. James S. Waugh, President of the Australian \nConference, who was then station ed with him in Sligo. Mrs. Tacka- \nberry gave Walsh\'s Bible to Mr. Waugh, in memorial of his de- \nvoted attention to Mr. Tackaberry during his final illness, \nand he brought it to Australia when leaving Ireland. Dur- \ning the recent visit of the Eev. Dr. Jobson to Australia, Mr. \nWaugh presented him with this Bible, and it is now in the pos- \nsession of Dr. Jobson. \xe2\x80\x94 (See Australia, with Notes by the Way.) \nShould not this Bible be presented to the library of our new \nCollege in Belfast ? \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. \n\n\n\n55 \n\n\n\nEmbury, \xe2\x80\x94 whose name and memory are destined to last \nlong as time itself, \xe2\x80\x94 and William Thompson, \xe2\x80\x94 after- \nwards one of the leading spirits of the Connexion, and \nthe first President of the British Conference, \xe2\x80\x94 were \nreceived on trial as travelling preachers. \n\nWalsh lingered till the following April, and then, \nafter a lengthened and most distressing period of \nmental conflict and gloom, the dark clond broke, he \nexultingly cried ont, "He is come ! He is come ! My \nBeloved is mine, and i am His ; His for ever !" and, \nuttering these words, his pure and noble spirit gently \npassed away to see Him as He is. He died in one of \nthe rooms over Whitefriar Street Chapel, Dublin, on \nthe 8th of April, 1759. His remains sleep in "the \nCabbage Garden," off Cathedral Lane, till the morn- \ning of the resurrection. I am ashamed to add, no \nstone was ever erected to his memory, and the spot \nwhere his precious dust reposes must be for ever un- \nknown.* \n\n* " Till I read the memoir of the late Rev. Wm. Crook I \nsupposed that Thomas Walsh had been buried in Patrick\'s. I \nhad the books of Nicholas Without searched, and found that \nhe was buried in the \' Cabbage Garden, \' as \' Mr. Walsh :\' his \nbaptismal name is not inserted." \xe2\x80\x94 Letter from J. Ouseley \nBonsall, Esq., to the Author. \n\nMr. Bonsall adds a note on \'\'the Cabbage Garden," which, \nas it relates to the final resting-place of many of the first and \nsecond race of Dublin Methodists, is worth transcribing : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\' \' Cabbage Garden \xe2\x80\x94 the unsuitable designation of a place of \ninterment is as follows : \xe2\x80\x94 Formerly there was no parish in \nDublin of Nicholas Without. A portion of Luke\'s parish, \nsouthward, was formed into a distinct parish, and, to provide a \nburial-ground for it, a piece of a large garden, known as the \n\n\n\n56 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nMelville Home, and many others, have written \nfreely by way of explaining the sad and fearful gloom \nwhich for so long a period overhung the dying bed of this \nhonoured and devoted man. For my own part, I believe \nthe cause to have been purely physical \xe2\x80\x94 the result of a \nphysical agent acting upon a shattered nervous system \n\xe2\x80\x94 with which religion had nothing whatever to do. \nDr. Stevens shrewdly says, " Disease and drugs have \nmuch effect on the shattered sensibilities and I have \npleasure (even at the risk of being charged with a \ndigression) in publishing the following important docu- \nment, from under the hand of the late Eev. John \nDinnen, which, if I mistake not, gives the true ex- \nplanation of Walsh\'s unaccountable depression. Mr. \nDinnen says, " It often paiued me that Walsh\'s biogra- \npher left him rather in the shade in his last moments. \nThe following anecdote was related to me by his brother, \n\n\n\ncity Cabbage Garden, was enclosed for the use of the newly- \nformed parish. The remainder continued to be used for the \ngrowth of vegetables. Hence the name \' Cabbage Garden. \' \nI have before me a map of Dublin, 1768, in which said Cabbage \nGarden is marked, no building being then close to it or beyond \nit. Since then the city has extended." \n\nIn a subsequent letter, Mr. Bonsall says : \xe2\x80\x94 "A little anec- \ndote of Thomas "Walsh, connected with "Whitefriar Street \nChapel, and which, I believe, is now known only to myself, is : \n\xe2\x80\x94 During his last illness (for during it his abode was the lobby \nof that chapel) one room was his sleeping apartment, another \nhis sitting room. On a pane of glass, in his sitting room, he \nwrote, with a diamond, in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and English, \nthe same sentence \xe2\x80\x94 \' Never satisfied icith my self. , " \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 57 \n\nDoctor Walsh, who was eminent in his profession, and \na truly pious man : \xe2\x80\x94 \' When Thomas and I were hoys,\' \nsaid the Doctor, \' I dreamed that we were going to \nschool, and stopped at a small house, where a dove \nperched on Thomas\'s shoulder. He then ran across a green \nfield which we had to pass, but was stopped by a stile, \nw^hich he could not get over until I helped him across. \nThis dream made a deep impression upon my mind. When \nmy brother was ordered by his English physicians to his \nnative air, he came to the County Limerick in a very \nlow state. While he remained with us he was little \nbetter from the change of place. On his return to \nDublin I accompanied him as far as Eoscrea. When \ntaking leave of him, I expressed my fears that I should \nnot see him again. He replied in a very impressive \nmanner, " / shall not die till I see you again.\'" A few \nweeks after, I read an account of his death, in one of \nthe Dublin newspapers. I made all the haste I could \nto Dublin, and upon my arrival found to my great satis- \nfaction, that he was still alive. I rapped at Mr. \nHuband\'s door. " John," said Thomas, " is at the door." \nI walked past the bed-side to an arm chair which stood \nbetween the bed and a table on which some medicine \nwas placed, which he had been ordered, and part of \nwhich he had lately taken. I examined this medicine, \nand found that either from the mistake or inattention of \nthe apothecary\'s boy, too large a quantity of laudanum had \nbeen infused, which had produced a sad effect upon my \nbrother. I ordered him a repellent, which operated \nsuccessfully in a short time. My brother was restored \n\n\n\n58 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OP \n\n\n\nto his usual state of mind. Shortly after, lifting up \nhis hands, in the full triumph of faith, he exclaimed, \n" He is come ! He is come ! My Beloved is mine and \nI am his \xe2\x80\x94 his for ever/" and immediately expired. \nMy dream I interpreted thus,\' said the doctor. \' The \ndove perching upon Thomas\'s shoulder was his call to \nthe ministry ; the green field the gospel field ; and the \nstile was death, in which I conceive I was useful to \nhim by my repellent.\' "* Charles Wesley vied with \nJohn in love for Walsh, and admiration of his char- \nacter, and on hearing of his lamented death, expressed \nhis feelings in lines which even he hut rarely surpassed. \nIn passing from the honoured name of Thomas Walsh, \nI cannot more appropriately close this brief notice of \nhis character and worth, than by giving the reader a \nfew stanzas from this grand tribute to his memory. \n\nDid lie not labour day and night, \n\nIn ministerial works employed ? \nHis sweet relief, his whole delight, \n\nTo search the oracles of God ; \n\n\n\n* From Biographical Sketch of the late Rev. John Dinnen, in \nhis own handwriting, in the possession of the author, p. 23. \n1788. \n\nMr. Dinnen died between twenty and thirty years ago, in Cole- \nraine ; and this document lay in the hands of his widow, who \ngave it to me, subject to certain restrictions as to publishing- \nsome parts of it, bearing on the Division of 1816. On her death, \nit was sent to me (with some letters to Mr. Dinnen from the late \nRev. Henry Moore), by my kind friend Mrs. M\'Elwain, of Cole- \nraine. I hope by and by to publish this document, with some \nillustrative notes. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 59 \n\n\n\nTo listen at the Master\'s feet, \n\nTo catch the whispers of His grace, \n\nAnd long for happiness complete, \nAnd gasp to see His open face ! \n\nDid he not triumph in the cross, \n\nIts prints as on his body show ; \nLavish of life for Jesu\'s cause, \n\nWhose blood so free for him did flow ? \nHe scorned his feeble flesh to spare, \n\nKegardless of its swift decline ; \nHis single aim, his ceaseless prayer, \n\nTo attain the righteousness divine. \n\nImpatient to be truly great, \n\nAmbitious of a crown above, \nHe coveted the highest seat, \n\nHe asked the grace of perfect love ; \nHe asked, alas ! but knew not then \n\nThe purport of his own desire \xe2\x80\x94 \nHow deep that cup of sacred pain, \n\nHow searching that baptismal fire ! \n\nTried to the last, but not forsook, \n\nBut honoured with distinguished grace ; \nHeavenward he cast a dying look, \n\nAnd saw once more his Saviour\'s face. \n" He\'s come ! my well-beloved," he said, \n\n" And I am His, and He is mine !" \nHe spoke, he gazed, he bowed his head, \n\nAnd sunk into the arms divine ! * \n\nIn July, 1760, we find Wesley again amongst the \nPalatines, when, for the first time, he speaks of the \nravages of emigration amongst them, to which I have \n* Jackson\'s Life of Rev. Charles Wesley, II. p. 145. \n\n\n\n60 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nalready referred. In the following quotation he hears \na testimony as to the change wrought amongst them "by \nthe Gospel, which is creditable alike to them, ami to \nthe noble band of men by whose instrumentality they \n" were translated out of darkness into God\'s marvellous \nlight." " Wednesday, Jidy 9. \xe2\x80\x94 I rode over to Killi- \nheen, a German settlement, near twenty miles south of \nLimerick. It rained all the way, but the earnestness \nof the poor people made me quite forget it. In the \nevening I preached to another colony of Germans at \nBally garane (Ballingran). The third is at Court- \nMattrass (Court-Matrix), a mile from Killiheen. I \nsuppose three such towns are scarce to be found again \nin England or Ireland. There is no cursing or swear- \ning, no Sabbath-breaking, no drunkenness, no ale \nhouse, in any of them. Hoav will these poor foreigners \nrise up in the judgment against those that are round \nabout them?"* \n\nIn June, 1762; June, 1765; May, 1767; May, 1769; \nMay, 1771; May, 1773; May, 1775, Wesley visited one \nor more of the Palatine settlements, and has recorded \nhis impressions of the progress of religion amongst the \nin each instance ; but my space will not allow of \ngiving his remarks in detail. During this period the \nPalatines were favoured with the ministry and labours \nof William Thompson, John Morgan, Samuel Levick, \nBarnabas Thomas, James Dempster^ Thomas Eourke, \n\n* Wesley\'s Journal, III. p. 9. \n\nf He subsequently went to America, and was the father of \nthe late distinguished Kev. John Dbmpstee, D.D. \xe2\x80\x94 so well \n\n\n\nmethodism amongst the palatines. 61 \n\nJohn Hilton, Thomas Olivers, James Deavbs, George \nStory, Thomas Taylor, Eichard Bourke, John \nMason, John Dillon, Stephen Proctor, John \nGoodwin, Peter Jaco, Francis Wrigley, and a host \nof less familiar names, all of whom were men who \nwere mighty in their generation \xe2\x80\x94 men of renown. \nAmongst those u less familiar names" was that of \nWilliam Collins, an early Bandon preacher, and a man \nof God, under whom " the Bandon Society was doubled \nin a twelvemonth." " Another proof," says Wesley, \n" at present, that a prophet is not without honour, \neven in his own country." \n\nIn May, 1778, on the occasion of his seventeenth \nvisit to Ireland, Wesley, "his eye not dim, or his \nnatural force abated, appears again amongst the Pala- \ntines, and thought them as loving and simple-hearted \nas ever." "Thursday, May 7. \xe2\x80\x94 I preached once more to \nthe loving, earnest, simple-hearted people of New- \nmarket. Two months ago, good Philip Geier (Guier) \nfell asleep, one of the Palatines that came over and \nsettled in Ireland between sixty and seventy years ago. \nHe was a father to this and the other German societies, \nloving and cherishing them as his own children. He \nretained all his faculties to the last, and after two days\' \nillness w T ent to God." \n\nHe also visited Kilfinnen, and under date Friday, 8, \n\nknown in the Methodist Episcopal Church. See Lectures and \nAddresses by Eev. John Dempster, D.D. Edited by Rev. \nDavis W. Clark, D.D. (now Bishop Clark). Cincinnati: \nPoe & Hitchcock. \xe2\x80\x94 A remarkably fresh and thoughtful book. \n\n\n\n62 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nsays : \xe2\x80\x94 " Finding the poor people at Ballygarane (Ballin- \ngran) whom I had not seen these five years, were very \ndesirous to see me once more, I went over in the morn- \ning \xe2\x80\xa2 although the notice was exceedingly short, yet a \nlarge number attended "* He thought that this was a \nfinal visit, and he bid his friends amongst the Germans, \nand at Limerick, a fond farewell. Concerning Limerick \nhe writes : \xe2\x80\x94 " I examined the society, and have not \nknown them for many years so much alive to God, and \nI do not remember to have ever found them so loving \nbefore ; indeed, the whole city seemed to breathe the \nsame spirit. At three in the afternoon I preached my \nfarewell sermon, on 1 Cor. xiii., 13." But the worthy \nold veteran was destined to see his German and Limerick \nfriends again, and yet again, before the last memorable \nparting came ! \n\nIn May, 1787, we find him again amongst the Pala- \ntines at Kilfinnen, and never found his friends in \nLimerick so affectionate as now. \n\nIn May, 1789, when about eighty-six years of age, \nthis marvellous old man visited Ireland for the twenty- \nfirst and last time ! His old friends, the Germans, \nseemed to have a strange hold upon him to the very last ! \nProtracted as this chapter has been, I must give "Wesley\'s \nlast record concerning the Germans and Limerick in \nfull. "Tuesday, May 12. \xe2\x80\x94 I pushed on to Limerick, \nwhere the Eev. Mr. Ingram (one of the chaplains of the \ncathedral) gladly received me, so did Mrs. Ingram, \nand all the lovely family ; where I wanted nothing \n* Wesley\'s Journal, IV. p. 116. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 63 \n\n\n\nwhich, the kingdom could afford. At six the house \nwould not contain the congregation. I preached on \n\' There is one God,\' and it seemed as if all under \nthe roof were sensible of His presence." " Wednesday, \n13. \xe2\x80\x94 I was not well able to preach in the morning, so \nJoseph Bradford took my place. But about eleven I \npreached at Pallas, about twelve miles from Limerick. \nAll the remains of the Palatine families came hither \nfrom Ballingarane (Ballingran), Court-Matrix, and \nEatheal (Eathkeale), in all which places an uncommon \nflame has lately broken out, such as was never seen before. \nMany in every place have been deeply convinced, many \nconverted to God, and some perfected in love. Some \nsocieties are doubled in number, some increased six or \neven ten-fold. All the neighbouring gentry were like- \nwise gathered together, so that no house could contain \nthem j but I was obliged to stand abroad. The people, \nas it were, swallowed every word, and great was our \nrejoicing in the Lord." " Thursday, 14. \xe2\x80\x94 I preached \nin the morning on Eev. ii. 4, 5 ; in the evening on \nLuke iv., 18. All the . congregation were, for the \npresent, much affected \xe2\x80\x94 with many, I trust, the im- \npression will continue."* This is Wesley\'s last record \nconcerning the Palatines ; he saw his German friends \nno more ! Before leaving Ireland he wrote, " This day \nI enter on my eighty-sixth year. I now find I grow \nold. 1. My sight is decayed, so that I cannot read a \nsmall print, unless in a strong light. 2. My strength \nis decayed, so that I walk much slower than I did some \n* Wesley\'s Journal, IV. p. 436. \n\n\n\n64 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS \n\n\n\nyears since. 3. My memory of names, whether of \npersons or places, is decayed, till I stop a little \nto recollect them. "What I should be afraid of is, \nif I took thought for the morrow, that my body \nshould weigh down my mind, and create either \nstubbornness, by the decrease of my understand- \ning ; or peevishness, by the increase of bodily infirmi- \nties ; but thou shalt answer for me, Lord my God."* \nThe slanderers of this noble and apostolic man have \nbeen many ; but it is one thing to slander Wesley, it \nis another and a far more difficult thing to copy his \nbright example. Let any man, whose mind is un- \nwarped by prejudice, read Wesley\'s Journal of his \nfinal visit to Ireland, and produce anything like it, if \nhe can, from the pen of a man eighty-six years of age, \nwithin the entire range of English literature. What a \ngrand pattern of faithful, devoted, self-denying labour \nhe has bequeathed to the ministers who bear his \nhonoured name ! I have sometimes thought, suppose \nhim to have lived in our day, with the railway, the \nsteam press, and the rich and varied appliances of the \nnineteenth century at his command, and who could \npossibly estimate the influence of such a life upon the \nthought and action of mankind. \n\nAbout the period of Wesley\'s final visit to the Pala- \ntines, the late Ebv. J ohn Dinnen was stationed on the \nLimerick Circuit, with the Eev. Jonathan Brown. I \ncopy the following notice from the MS. sketch of this \nvenerable minister\'s life and labours, before referred \n* "Wesley\'s Journal, IV. p. 444. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 65 \n\n\n\nto : \xe2\x80\x94 " In Limerick we found a pleasing, friendly- \npeople, many of them truly devoted to God. We \nspent the year in much peace, and I believe great good \nwas done in the name of the Lord. We preached \nfrequently abroad, and met with much opposition from \nthe mob, particularly in Garrim, famed for hostility to \nthe Gospel ; and they suffered for it by some of the \ninhabitants, who espoused our cause. The Eev. Mr. \nIngram and his friendly family treated us with much \nrespect and love. One of his daughters was in our \nsociety. Mr. Wesley, Dr. Coke, and many of our \nfriends, were kindly entertained in this family. The \ncountry part of the circuit was pleasant, and we had \nthe satisfaction of seeing a rising work. Many of our \nmembers were Palatines, who were sent to the County \nLimerick by Queen Anne. They had their land free \nfor some years. After a while they had the same land \nfor five shillings an acre. When I travelled the circuit \nsome of them paid one guinea and a half, and lived \nwell, finding godliness truly profitable."* \n\nIn July, 1789, Wesley presided for the last time in \nthe Irish Conference, now composed in the main of \nIrishmen, as the great majority of the English brethren \nlong since had retired from Ireland. Wesley\'s final \ntestimony as to the Irish Conference \xe2\x80\x94 which then had \nin its number such familiar names as John Crook, \nThomas Barber, Gustavus Armstrong, Samuel Wood, \nDavid Gordon (the spiritual father of Gideon Ouseley), \nMatthias Joyce, Matthew Stewart, William Wilson, \n* MS. Sketch of Rev. John Dinnen, p. 21. 1788. \nE \n\n\n\n66 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nThomas Kidgeway, George Brown, Andrew Hamilton, \nsen., and jun.; James M\'Mullen, John Malcomson, \nJohn and Thomas Kerr, Alex. Moore, Laurence \nKane,* and many more \xe2\x80\x94 is worth transcription here : \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Friday, July 3. \xe2\x80\x94 Our little Conference began in \n\n* I find the following interesting notice of Laurence Kane in \nMr. Dinnen\'s Autobiographical Sketch. "I found Mr. Laurence \nKane in Cork, when I came to it, for which I was thankful. \nWhen I first travelled the Cork Circuit, he then lived in Youghal, \nhis native place. His parents were rigid Papists, and of course \nLaurence was of their mind. He was bound to he a ship- \ncarpenter; and was fond cf cock-fighting, and similar amuse- \nments. One Sunday evening, as I was going to the Court- \nHouse to preach, Laurence, with some others, pelted me with \nsnow-balls. He afterwards came to preaching, and was deeply \nconvinced of sin. He sold his game cocks, and walked to Cork \nbare-foot to buy a Bible. He joined our society, was con- \nverted to God, and endured violent persecution from his parents, \nhis mother in particular. He travelled a while in our Connexion, \nand returned to Cork to support his aged parents by keeping an \nacademy. He slept with Mr. John Stuart, and spent his leisure \nhours with us with great profit. I had not seen him for twelve \nyears. During that time he made great proficiency in learning \nand grace. He could read his Bible in several languages." \xe2\x80\x94 \nSketch of Rev. John Dinnen, p. 45. 1797. \xe2\x80\x94 He subsequently \nwent to America, and became a minister in the Methodist Epis- \ncopal Church. He held a public discussion with the Rev. \nSamuel Pelton, a Calvinistic minister, at Haverstraw, Rock- \nland, New York, in April, 1821, which was published in a 12mo. \nvolume, a copy of which now lies before me. He meets the \nvaried sophisms of his Calvinistic opponent with considerable \nskill and effect. I have also some of his published sermons, \nwhich are most interesting, as showing how a converted Ro- \nmanist could preach, when, by the grace of God, transformed \ninto a Methodist. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. \n\n\n\n67 \n\n\n\nDublin, and ended Tuesday, 7th. On this I observe, \nI never had between forty and fifty such preachers \ntogether in Ireland before, all of whom, we have reason \nto hope, alive to God, and earnestly devoted to his \nservice. I had much satisfaction in this Conference, \nin which, conversing with between forty and fifty \ntravelling preachers, I found such a body of men as I \nhardly believed could have been found together in Ire- \nland \xe2\x80\x94 men of so sound experience, so deep piety, and \nso strong understanding. I am convinced they are in \nno way inferior to the English Conference, except it be \nin number."* \n\nHere we must part with this venerable man, and \nwith this branch of my subject also.t He visited Ire- \n\n* Wesley\'s Journal, IV. p. 445. \n\nf It would have proved a most agreeable task to have traced \nthe history of Methodism amongst the Palatines down to our \nown day, and I had collected materials for doing so. But I \nhave already traced that history far beyond what was necessary \nto illustrate my subject, and going any further into detail would \nseriously increase the size and price of this book, and perhaps \nproportionately limit its circulation. \n\nSuffice it to say, that Graham and Ouseley frequently visited \nthis interesting people, and that many prominent members of \nthe Conference in more modern times have laboured amongst \nthem with great success, amongst whom I may name from those \nstill left with us, who connect the present generation of Irish \npreachers with the noble host who have crossed the flood \xe2\x80\x94 \nThomas "VVaugh, John Nelson, John Carey, "William Eeilly, and \nRobert Masaroon\xe2\x80\x94 now the most veteran of our number. For \nmany years past we have held an annual Field meeting amongst \nthe Palatines at Adare, which is an occasion of great interest. \nI cannot say how long since this meeting was established ; \n\n\n\n68 \n\n\n\nORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF \n\n\n\nland, as we have seen, twenty-one times, embracing \nabout six years of bis public life, and tbougbt the time \nwell spent. He gave to Ireland the labours of some of \nthe best of his Itinerants, and, in return, Ireland gave \nto him some of the choicest spirits he had ever known ; \nand to English Methodism some of the most influential \nnames that grace its history. He bestowed a vast \namount of personal labour upon the Palatines of Irish \nbirth, and in addition sent the best of his Itinerants \namong them, as (besides those already named) Samuel \nBradburn, Eichard Boardman, Joseph Pilmoor, \nThomas Wride, Thomas Davis, Eichard Watkinson, \nDaniel Jackson, and Andrew Delap, \xe2\x80\x94 to name no \nmore ; and those Irish Palatines, in the mysterious pro- \nvidence of God, laid the foundation of the mighty \nfabric of American Methodism \xe2\x80\x94 the grandest develop- \nment of Christianity since Apostolic times \xe2\x80\x94 and then- \nsons and daughters have consolidated the rising fabric \nof Methodism in many parts of the world ; \xe2\x80\x94 thus \nimpressively verifying his own prophetic statement \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Have patience, and Ireland will repay you." \n\nbut a sermon on The Redeemer\'s Elevation and Attraction, \npreached at this meeting on June 24, 1833, by the late Eev. \nWilliam Stewart, now lies before me ; and this meeting was \nan institution then of many years\' standing. \n\nI cannot soon forget one of these occasions, about ten years \nago, when it fell to my lot to preach in connection with the \nEev. "William Gather and the Eev. Thomas C. Laurence, now of \nAustralia. I am not sure that I have enjoyed a service more \nsince. \n\nSince the above was in type, the following came to hand from \n\n\n\nMETHODISM AMONGST THE PALATINES. 69 \n\n\n\nthe venerable and Kev. Thomas "Waugh, now the Father of the \nIrish Conference ; giving an account of his first visit to the \nPalatines nearly sixty years ago : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n"It was impossible to visit the Palatine settlements, in my \nearly day, without being deeply interested. It is almost sixty \nyears since I first spent a night with them, on my way to \nKerry. I was kindly received by the Burgomaster ; but, \nhaving rested a little, and been refreshed, he said, \' You must \npreach for us.\' I pleaded weariness, having had a long and \nfatiguing journey, but was told that no preacher, passing \nthrough, was excused from giving them a sermon. I urged \nthat there had been no notice given, and, of course, there could \nhave been no expectation of such thing, and could not have a \ncongregation. \' Well, \' said he, 4 You shall see ; please come \nwith me.\' I accompanied him to where the little preaching- \nhouse occupied the centre of a green, skirted by cottages, into \none of which he requested me to enter, visit and pray with \na sick sister, and then all would be ready. He opened the \nchapel door, from above it drew out a cow\'s horn, put it to his \nmouth, and made the vallies ring. On hearing it, every man \ndropped his spade, suspended his agricultural employment, \nand obeying the well-known signal, hastened to the house of \nworship ; so that, on my coming out from my patient, I found \nthe preaching-house furnished with a serious, praying congre- \ngation, and delivered to them my Master\'s message. Some of \nthe early settlers, I should think, were the very old men of that \nday, for their German accent still clung to them. On quitting \none house the patriarch squeezed my hand most affectionately, \nsaying, \' Got pless you, my tear young man/\' " \n\n\n\n\nffi. \n\nf fjtltp OPmirars aittr Jlrs. leek \n\n\n\n" It is interesting to notice how some minds seem almost to create them- \nselves, springing up under every disadvantage, and working their solitary \nand irresistible way through a thousand obstacles. Nature seems to delight \nin disappointing the assiduities of art, with which it would rear dulness to \nmaturity, and to glory in the vigour and luxuriance of her chance produc- \ntions. She scatters the seeds of genius to the winds, and though some \nmay perish among the stony places of the world, and some may be choked \nby the thorns and brambles of early adversity, yet others will now and \nthen strike root in the clefts of the rock, struggle bravely up into sunshine, \nand spread over their sterile birth-place all the beauties of vegetation." \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n"Washington Irving. \n\n\n\nCHAPTEE III. \n\n\n\nIP? \n\n\n\n<&mhm% attir iprs* J&tk \n\n\n\nEMBURY AND HIS PARTY LEAVING FOR AMERICA \xe2\x80\x94 PARTING \nSCENE A HUNDRED AND SIX TEARS AGO\xe2\x80\x94 BALLINGRAN \xe2\x80\x94 \nMETHODIST CHURCH \xe2\x80\x94 RUINS OF EMBURY\'S HOUSE \xe2\x80\x94 MRS. \nHECK\'S HOUSE, AND OLD MRS. RUCKLE \xe2\x80\x94 EMBURY\'S BIRTH \xe2\x80\x94 \nEDUCATION \xe2\x80\x94 APPRENTICED TO A CARPENTER \xe2\x80\x94 CONVERSION- \nAPPOINTED A LEADER AND LOCAL PREACHER \xe2\x80\x94 HIS SERVICES \nIN CONNECTION WITH THE BUILDING OF THE CHURCH AT \nCOURT-MATRIX \xe2\x80\x94 WESLEY PREACHING AT BALLINGRAN IN \n1756 \xe2\x80\x94 CONFERENCE AT LIMERICK IN 1758\xe2\x80\x94 EMBURY AND \nWILLIAM THOMPSON RECOMMENDED FOR OUR ITINERANCY \n\xe2\x80\x94 CHARACTER OF THOMPSON \xe2\x80\x94 EMBURY\'S MARRIAGE IN \nNOVEMBER, 1758 \xe2\x80\x94 PAUL HECK AND BARBARA HIS WIFE \xe2\x80\x94 \nEMIGRATION OF EMBURY, PAUL AND BARBARA HECK, AND \nOTHERS TO NEW YORK IN 1760. \n\nIT is now just one hundred and six years since one \nsummer\'s morning a group of emigrants might have \nbeen seen at the Custom-house Quay, Limerick, prepar- \ning to embark for America. At that time emigration \nwas not so common an occurrence as it is now, and the \nexcitement connected with their departure was intense. \nThey were Palatines, from Ballingran, and were accom- \npanied to the vessel side by crowds of their companions \nand friends, some of whom had come sixteen miles to \n\n\n\n74 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK \n\n\n\nsay farewell for the last time. By a very slight effort \nof imagination you can vividly recall the scene. One \nof those about to leave \xe2\x80\x94 a young man, with a thought- \nful look and resolute bearing \xe2\x80\x94 is evidently the leader of \nthe party, and more than an ordinary pang is felt by \nmany as they bid him farewell. He had been amongst \nthe first-fruits of his countrymen to Christ, had been \nthe leader of the infant church, and in their humble \nlittle sanctuary had often ministered to them the Word \nof Life. He is surrounded by his spiritual children and \nfriends, who are anxious to have some parting words of \ncounsel and instruction. He enters the vessel, and from \nits side once more breaks amongst them the bread of \nLife. And now the last prayer is offered ; they embrace \neach other ; the vessel begins to move. As she recedes, \nuplifted hands, and, better still, uplifted hearts, attest \nwhat all felt. But none of all that vast multitude felt \nmore, probably, than that young man. His name is \nPhilip Embury. His party consisted of his wife, Mary \nSwitzer, to whom he had been married in Eathkeale \nChurch about a year and a-half before, two of his \nbrothers and their families, Peter Switzer, probably \nbrother to his wife, Paul Heck, and Barbara his wife, \nValer Tettler, Philip Morgan, and a family of the \nDulmages. The vessel arrived safely in New York on \nthe 10th of August, 1760. Who that pictures to his \nmind that first band of Christian emigrants leaving the \nIrish shore but must be struck with the simple beauty \nof the scene? Yet who amongst the crowd that saw \nthem leave, or the thousands whose eye will fall upon \n\n\n\nAT BALLINGRAN. \n\n\n\n75 \n\n\n\nthis sheet, could have thought that two of that little \nband were destined, in the mysterious providence of \nGod, to influence for good, countless myriads of Adam\'s \nchildren, and that their names should live long as the \nsun and moon endure 1 ? Yet so it was. That vessel \ncontained Philip Embury, the first leader and Local \nPreacher on the vast American Continent ; and Barbara \nHeck, "a mother in Israel," one of its first members \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe germ from which, in the good providence of God, \nhas sprung the Methodist Episcopal Church of the \nUnited States \xe2\x80\x94 a church which has now more or less \nunder its influence about eight millions of the germi- \nnant mind of that new and teeming hemisphere ! "There \nshall be an handful of corn upon the top of the moun- \ntain, the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and \nthey of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth." \nIf the reader and I had stood by the side of Bruce as he \ndiscovered the source of the Mle, we would have stooped, \nand exultingly have drank with him of the virgin \nstream; and as we gazed upon the tiny rivulet, gurgling \nfrom the bosom of the rock, and thought upon the noble \nriver which gave life and fertility to Egypt, as taking \nits rise in this tiny stream, we would have felt a throb \nof mysterious joy. But we may feel a joy deeper and \nholier far, as we gaze upon the vast and ever-growing \nMethodist Episcopal Church of America, and trace the \norigin of that noble and fertilizing stream to the soil \nof old Ireland, and to the infant Methodist Church at \nBallingran. \n\nBallingran is not a bewitching place. It is situated \n\n\n\n76 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK \n\n\n\nabout two miles from Bathkeale, and sixteen from \nLimerick. In its immediate neighbourhood are Killi- \nheen and the other Palatine settlements, already named. \nIt was on a fine summer\'s day, about ten years ago, when \nmy eye first rested upon it, and though nothing was \nfurther from my mind at that time than the idea of ever \nwriting a line about it, yet I have a vivid impression of \nthe emotions which filled my bosom as I thought \nof the far-reaching influence this little village was \nexerting now, and was destined to exert to the end of \ntime. \n\nThe village has between two and three hundred \ninhabitants, about one third of whom are Methodists, \nwho worship statedly in a little church which is in the \ncentre of the settlement. The houses are, for the most \npart, good comfortable cottages, with a healthy, cleanly \n"well to do" air, which, alas! is not too common in \nIreland. The village is irregularly built, and this \nsomewhat lessens its picturesque effect; still, the general \nimpression left upon the mind is truly pleasing. \n\nYonder is the little Methodist Church: let us look at \nit first. It stands in a small square, detached, and is \nsurrounded by a neat wall. There is a little grass plot in \nfront, and the general external appearance is pretty fair. \nBut what of the inside 1 When I saw it first, this was \nstill better \xe2\x80\x94 neat, chaste, simple \xe2\x80\x94 a church after J ohn \nWesley\'s own heart. I am sorry to say that time and \ndamp have told most seriously upon it within the last \nfew years, and it is now sadly in want of thorough \nrepair. Why should not our friends in the neighbour- \n\n\n\nAT BALLINGRAN. \n\n\n\n77 \n\n\n\nhood raise as mucli as would repair and beautify this \nlittle church, the site of which is truly admirable, and \nat the same time, erect a tablet to the memory of .Philip \nEmbury and Barbara Heck, in this the Centenary year \nof American Methodism? And there is Embury\'s \nhouse ! or rather the remains of it, for the roof and part \nof the walls are gone. Still, enough of it remained to \nform a clear conception of what it was when Philip and \nhis young wife formed the attraction of its fire-side. \nIt was a good comfortable cottage, beyond the average \nof respectable Irish farm houses, and remarkably well \nsituated. I was shown a little room, which was Philip\'s \nroom \xe2\x80\x94 his closet \xe2\x80\x94 where he often poured out his heart \nto God, after his hard day\'s work, for directions in re- \nlation to his sermon for the following Sabbath; and on \nthis spot, no doubt, he sought a wisdom higher than \nhis own in relation to the great event of his life \xe2\x80\x94 his \nemigration to the far West. What a spot for thought, \nand for prayer too! How little a man can know of \nwhat is the life work which his great Father in heaven \nhas prepared for him ! I found a beautiful lilac tree in \nfull bloom growing in the centre of the house, in im- \npressive contrast with the ruin and desolation of the \nhouse itself. I cut two slips and planted them in our \nminister\'s garden. I am happy to say that they have \nthriven and expanded in a style worthy of the name of \nEmbury. I went to see the house more recently, after \nI had formed the resolution to publish this little book. \nTime has wrought sad changes within the last few years ; \nlittle now is left but part of one wall, and of one of the \n\n\n\n78 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK \n\n\n\ngables. Speedily, Embury\'s house will be amongst the \nthings that were. But the name and life work of \nEmbury will bid defiance even to the iron tooth of \ntime ! They will be dear to the heart of unborn millions \nfrom age to age, long as time shall last. \n\nMrs. Heck\'s house has shared better fortune. It is still \nstanding in venerable age, apparently with sufficient \nconstitutional stamina to be an ornament and prominent \nattraction of Ballingran for many years to come. When \nI saw it first, old Mrs. Barbara Euckle (connected by \nmarriage with Mrs. Heck) lived in it, and a grand old \nwoman she was as I have met with since. When I saw \nit last she was gone to join her kindred in the house \nabove. She had so much individuality of character \nthat she stands out alone before my mind, in many re- \nspects unlike any one else whom I have ever known. \nShe bore Mrs. Heck\'s honoured name, Barbara Euckle; \nlived in her house, and caught her mantle too ! I fancy \nthat Mrs. Heck was just such another woman. \n\nMrs. Heck\'s maiden name was Barbara Buckle. Her \nfather, Sebastan Buckle, lived and died in this house, \nand here "the elect lady" of American Methodism was \nborn ! On the occasion of her marriage with Mr. Paul \nHeck, she removed to his house, which stood not very \nfar from our little church, and every trace of whch has \nlong since passed away. There is nothing very parti- \ncular about Mrs. Heck\'s house. It is an ordinary com- \nfortable cottage, with a nice garden before the door. \nIt will interest many in America to know that the \nMethodist ministers are still hospitably entertained in \n\n\n\nAT BALLINGRAN. \n\n\n\n79 \n\n\n\nthe house which was the birth-place of Barbara \nHeck. \n\nPhilip Embury was born in Ballingran in the latter \nend of the year 1728. There is a family record which \nsays that he was baptized September 29, 1728. He \nhad several brothers, all of whom ultimately found \na home and a grave in America, He was educated \nunder the care of good Philip Guier, and was subse- \nquently sent to an English school, probably at Eath- \nkeale. After leaving school, he was bound apprentice \nto a carpenter at Ballingran, and was by repute a good \ntradesman. He grew up without religion, and it is \nimpossible to tell either winch of Wesley\'s Itinerants \nhe first heard preach, or the circumstances which led to \nhis conversion. It is probable that he heard Mr. \nWesley on the occasion of his visit to Eimerick, in \nAugust, 1752 ; and there is a tradition in his family, \nto the effect that he always traced his conversion to a \nsermon which he heard from Wesley. Be this as it \nmay, the evidence of his conversion is clear as the noon \nday sun. A small book, in the possession of his \nfamily, has the following interesting entry, in his own \nhandwriting : \xe2\x80\x94 " On Christmas Day, being Monday, \nye 25th of December, in the year 1752, the Lord \nshone into my soul by a glimpse of his redeeming love, \nbeing an earnest of my redemption in Christ Jesus, \nto whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. \xe2\x80\x94 \nPhil. Embury." He was shortly after appointed a \nleader, and was eminently consistent and faithful. \nWithin a brief period he became a Local Preacher, and, \n\n\n\n80 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK \n\n\n\nwith good Philip Guier, was generally recognized as a \nkind of pastor of the Palatines. \n\nThe first Methodist church amongst the Palatines \nwas built at Court-Matrix. It owed a good deal to the \nexertions of Embury. The Switzers, who were relatives \nof Embury, lived at Court-Matrix, and the presumption \nis that he lodged with them during the period in which \nhe worked at the church. Be this as it may, an inte- \nresting member of their family circle exerted a mar- \nvellous influence over Embury, which ultimately deter- \nmined the sphere of his life work. It is probable that \nthe principal portion of the timber work in connec- \ntion with the first church amongst the Palatines was \ndone by Embury\'s own hand, as in the case of " the \ncradle of American Methodism." We have no record \nof the opening services of this church, but Embury \npreached in it repeatedly. The Ballingran church was \nnot built for more than thirty years after Embury\'s \nemigration.* \n\nAs we have already seen, Wesley preached in Bal- \nlingran for the first time in June, 1756, and pro- \n\n* This church at Court-Matrix is principally interesting, as \nhaving been put up in good part by Embury\'s own hands, and \nalso from the fact, that in it Wesley and all the veteran Itine- \nrants of the early day ministered the word of life. It is sinking \nfast to ruin now, and should be repaired and turned into a \nMethodist School-house, and a new church, commemorative of \nEmbury, erected on a site which would command Kathkeale, \nKilliheen, and Court-Matrix. Such a church might be built \nfor from \xc2\xa3500 to \xc2\xa3700, and would prove a lasting blessing to \nthis entire district of country. \n\n\n\nAT BALLINGRAN. \n\n\n\n81 \n\n\n\nbably not far from the house of Embury and of Mrs. \nHeck. Philip had now preached locally for some time, \nand with considerable acceptance. Doubtless, Wesley \nand he met on this occasion, and it is far from impro- \nbable conversed on the subject of Embury\'s joining the \nheroic band who formed the Itinerancy of that day. \n\nIn 1758, on the occasion of Wesley\'s seventh visit to \nIreland, he held a Conference for the second time, in \nLimerick. The solemn shade of death seemed to over- \nhang Walsh, and Wesley\'s heart was sad. At this Con- \nference, amongst those recommended for our Itinerancy, \nwere Philip Embury, of Ballingran, and William \nThompson, of Ballinamallard, near Enniskillen. In \nthe notes of the proceedings of the British Conference, \nof August 12th, 1758, as found in the last edition of the \nEnglish " Minutes,"* in answer to the question, "Who \nare now proposed for travelling preachers?" we have the \nfollowing names: William Harwood, William Thomp- \nson, Philip Embury, John Furz, and ten more. Some \nof them, as William Thompson and John Eurz, were \nthen appointed to a Circuit, and the remainder, doubtless \nincluding Embury, were placed on Wesley\'s list of \nreserve ; many of whom subsequently went out to travel. \n\nWilliam Thompson became one of the leading spirits \nof the Connexion, and had perhaps more to do with \nmoulding the ecclesiastical framework of Methodism, \nthan any other man that could be named. Mr. At- \nmore, speaking of him, says, "Mr. Thompson was a man \n\n* Edited by the late Rev. William L. Thornton, M.A., p. 712. \n1862. \n\nF \n\n\n\n82 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBUET AND MRS. HECK \n\n\n\nof remarkably strong sense, a fertile genius, a clear un- \nderstanding, a quick discernment, a retentive memory, \nand a sound judgment. His mind, naturally endowed \nwith, strong parts, was greatly improved by reading and \nclose thinking, so that as a minister, he was a workman \nwho needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word \nof truth." \n\n" He was supposed by many to be one of the closest \nreasoners and most able speakers that ever sat in the \nMethodist Conference. After the death of Mr. Wesley, \nhe took a very active part in the affairs of the Con- \nnexion ; and the outlines of the present form of govern- \nment originated principally with him. The Conference \nshowed in what light they viewed him, by choosing \nhim for their first President, after the decease of the \nEev. John Wesley, in the year 1791." He travelled \nseveral years in Ireland, and died at Birmingham, May \n1, 1799. "On the day of his interment," Mr, Atmore \nsays, " his body was carried into the chapel in Cherry \nStreet, Birmingham, and solemnly laid before the pulpit \nduring the time of service. Mr. Bradburn addressed a \ncrowded audience on the occasion, from the words of \nDavid, respecting Abner (2 Sam., iii. 38), \' Know ye \nnot that there is a prince and a great man fallen this \nday in Israel?\' The preachers in the Birmingham Dis- \ntrict were the supporters of the pall, and the funeral was \nattended by the greatest number of people ever remem- \nbered, on such an occasion, in Birmingham before."* \n\nEmbury, as we have seen, was not amongst those \n\n* Atmore\'s Methodist Memorial, p. 420-22. See also Dr. \nBunting\'s Life, p. 81. \n\n\n\nAT BALLINGRAN. \n\n\n\n83 \n\n\n\nwho were appointed to a Circuit at this Conference, but \nwas placed on the list of reserve, to be called out as a \nvacancy might arise. I have already hinted that he \nhad a tender feeling for a relative of his own, Miss \nMary Switzer, of Court-Matrix ; and the presumption \nis, that, not being amongst those now appointed to \na Circuit, he resolved to get married, and preach \nlocally, like his friend, Philip Guier. Accordingly, he \ngot married to Miss Switzer, in Eathkeale Church, \nin November, 1758, and thus abandoned the idea of \njoining the noble and self-denying band of men who \nformed the Itinerancy of that day in Ireland. It is \nmore than probable that, had Embury been appointed \nto a Circuit at that Conference, America would never \nhave recognized in his honoured name the founder of \nthe Methodist Episcopal Church. But Providence had \na grand life-work for him to do in another land, far \ndistant from the land of his birth, and right nobly and \nmanfully he did it. \n\nI think it likely that, at the time of his marriage, \nEmbury had no idea of emigrating, but that his inten- \ntion was to remain in Ballingran, and preach from \nSabbath to Sabbath as usual, supporting himself and \nfamily by his farm and his daily work as a carpenter. \nAbout the year 1760, as we have already seen, there \nwas a considerable increase in the rents on Lord South- \nwell\'s estate, which issued in the emigration of many of \nthe Palatines, and which, with the prospect of a young, \nrising fami]y, led him to decide on seeking a home in \nthe New World, whither many of his kindred from \nGermany had already gone. \n\n\n\n84 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK, ETC. \n\nThere were two or more families of the name of \nHeck at BaHingran, all of whom ultimately found a \nhome in America, where one family, at least, took \nthe name of Hick. Paul Heck was a Methodist in \nBallingran, where he married Barbara Euckle, whose \nfamily also lived in Ballingran. He resolved to join \nEmbury\'s party, and, with his wife, together with \nseveral other families, left Limerick in the summer of \n1760, and arrived with Embury in JSTew York in the \nmonth of August, as stated above. \n\nWesley, as we have seen, visited Ballingran again in \n1760. But what a sad change within the brief space \nof two years ! Philip Embury, the beloved and faithful \npreacher, was gone. Paul Heck and his noble wife \nwere gone. Many families \xe2\x80\x94 the hope of the infant \nchurch of Ballingran \xe2\x80\x94 were also gone. As he thought \nupon the desolation and loneliness of Ballingran, he \nwrote indignantly in his Journal : \xe2\x80\x94 " But the poor \nsettlers, with all their diligence and frugality, could \nnot procure even the coarsest food to eat, and the \nmeanest raiment to put on,, under their merciful land- \nlords ; so that most of these, as well as those at Balli- \ngarane (Ballingran), have been forced to seek bread in \nother places ; some of them in distant parts of Ireland, \nbut the greater part in America."* But could Wesley \nhave seen, in the distance, the Methodist Episcopal \nChurch of the United States as the offspring of the \npresent desolation, what a rainbow of hope would have \nglittered on the breast of the dark cloud that now over- \nhung Ballingran ! \n\n* Wesley\'s Journal, ILL p. 10. (1760.) \n\n\n\nilitltp Oftrttottg mttr leek. \n\nbright of Priljoirbm m Htfo gotft. \n\n\n\n" Land where the bones of our fathers are sleeping, \nLand where our dear ones and fond ones are weeping, \nLand where the light of Jehovah is shining, \nWe leave thee lamenting, bnt not with repining. \n\n" Land of our fathers, in grief we forsake thee, \nLand of our friends, may Jehovah protect thee, \nLand of the Church, may the light shine around thee, \nNor darkness, nor trouble, nor sorrow confound thee. \n\n" God is thy God: thou shalt walk in His brightness. \nGird thee with joy, let thy robes be of whiteness ; \nGod is thy God ! let thy hills shout for gladness ; \nBut ah ! we must leave thee\xe2\x80\x94 we leave thee in sadness. \n\n" Dark is our path o\'er the dark rolling ocean ; \nDark are our hearts ; but the fire of devotion \nKindles within : \xe2\x80\x94 and a far distant nation \nShall learn from our hps the glad song of salvation. \n\n" Hail to the land of our toils and our sorrows ! \nLand of our rest .\'\xe2\x80\x94when a few more to-morrows \nPass o\'er our heads, we will seek our cold pillows, \nAnd rest in our graves, far away o\'er the billows." \n\n\xe2\x80\x94Christian Emigrants\' Farewell. \n\n\n\nCHAPTEE IV. \n\n\n\nPROBABLE CAUSES OF EMBURY\'S SILENCE FOB, SIX YEARS IN \nNEW YORK \xe2\x80\x94 WORSHIPPED WITH THE LUTHERANS \xe2\x80\x94 DEATH OF \nTWO OF HIS CHILDREN \xe2\x80\x94 ARRIVAL OF SECOND PARTY OF \nIRISH PALATINES IN 1765 \xe2\x80\x94 MRS. HECK AND THE CARD- \nPLAYERS \xe2\x80\x94 PROOF THAT EMBURY WAS NOT PRESENT \xe2\x80\x94 FULL \nREFUTATION OF THIS SLANDER \xe2\x80\x94 EMBURY\'S FIRST SERMON \nAND THE ORIGIN OF METHODISM IN AMERICA \xe2\x80\x94 HIS OWN \nHIRED HOUSE \xe2\x80\x94 REMOVAL OF THE LITTLE CHURCH TO THE \n"UPPER ROOM" IN BARRACK STREET \xe2\x80\x94 EARLY MEMBERS OF \nTHE CHURCH \xe2\x80\x94 REMOVAL TO THE "RIGGING LOFT" IN 1767 \xe2\x80\x94 \nARRIVAL OF CHARLES WHITE AND RICHARD SAUSE FROM \nDUBLIN \xe2\x80\x94 CAPTAIN WEBB, HIS PREACHING AND SUCCESS. \n\nTTTE have seen that Pliilip Embury and his party, \n" " including Paul and Barbara Heck, arrived in New \nYork in August, 1760. The presumption is, that Em- \nbury attempted some religious service shortly after \nlanding ; but, being constitutionally timid and retiring, \nand meeting with little or no encouragement, and hav- \ning no suitable place in which to conduct the services, \nhe abandoned the idea of attempting any public ser- \nvices, at least for the present. It is probable that in a \nnew and strange land he found it increasingly difficult \nto support his wife and young family, and that this was \n\n\n\n88 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK. \n\n\n\nnot without its influence in his ultimate decision. It \nis also fair to assume that the Irish emigrants were \nlocated in various parts of the city, so that the difficulty \nof getting even a few of them together may have heen \nvery considerable. He joined the Lutherans, and we \nhave the testimony of his son, Mr. Samuel Embury, \nthat he never abandoned the practice of family worship. \nDuring the period in which Embury\'s " talent lay hid \nin a napkin" several of his children were born, who \nwere baptized amongst the Lutherans. Two of these \ndied in infancy \xe2\x80\x94 Catherine Elizabeth, his first-born, \naged two years ; and J ohn Albert, aged three. \n\nIn August, 1765, a second party of Palatine emi- \ngrants arrived in New York, from Ballingran and the \nneighbourhood. Amongst them were Paul Ruckle, \nLuke Rose, Jacob Hick, Peter Barkman, Henry \nWilliams, and their families. Mr. Ruckle was related \nto Embury, and brother to Barbara Heck, who, as we \nhave seen, with her husband, Paul Heck, had accom- \npanied Embury in 1760. Jacob Hick and his wife \nhad been Methodists in Ireland, and were amongst \nthe earliest friends of the infant Methodist Church \nin New York. I take Jacob Hick to have been the \nfounder of the Hick family, mentioned in the " Old \nBook," and the ancestor of John Paul Hick, so \nfrequently mentioned in Wakeley\'s Lost Chapters. \nHis wife, doubtless, was an excellent woman, and \namongst the earliest friends of Methodism in New York; \nbut she is not to be confounded with Barbara Heck, \n"the heroine of American Methodism," as in my judg- \n\n\n\nORIGIN OF METHODISM IN NEW YORK. 89 \n\nment the Eev. J. B. Wakeley has done in his beautiful \nbook. Jacob Hick, his wife, and family, lived and \ndied in New York ; whereas, Paul Heck and Barbara \nhis w T ife, went with Embury from New York to Salem, \nin 1770, and ultimately were connected with the first \nclass in Canada, where they died; having had the \nhonour of being identified with the origin of Methodism \nboth in the United States and in Canada, as I shall \nshow by and by. \n\nMany of the Palatines who accompanied Embury and \nBarbara Heck from Ireland, had by this time lost even \nthe form of godliness, and had become adepts at card \nplaying and other sinful amusements. Several of those \nwho accompanied Paul Buckle had but little respect for \nreligion, and in the evenings, when both parties met \nafter the day\'s labour, card-playing formed the staple \namusement. There is not the slightest shadow of \nevidence that Embury ever played with them, or even \nwitnessed them playing. One evening in the autumn \nof 1766, a large company were assembled playing \ncards as usual, when Barbara Heck came in, and \nburning with indignation, she hastily seized the \ncards, and throwing them into the fire, administered \na scathing rebuke to all the parties concerned. She \nthen went to Embury\'s house, and told him what she \nsaw, and what she had done, adding, with great earnest- \nness, " Philip, you must preach to us, or we shall all go \nto hell, and God will require our blood at your hands /" \nPhilip attempted a defence by saying, "How can I \npreach, as I have neither house nor congregation?" \n\n\n\n90 \n\n\n\nPHTLIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK. \n\n\n\n"Preach," said this noble woman, "in your own house, \nand to your own company." Before she left, she pre- \nvailed on Philip to resolve to make the attempt, and \nwithin a few days, Embury preached the first Methodist \nsermon in New York, in his own hired house, to a con- \ngregation of five persons.* Such was the origin of the \nMethodist Episcopal Church of the United States \xe2\x80\x94 now \nthe largest and most influential Church in the great \nAmerican Continent. " Who hath despised the day of \nsmall things." \n\nAs Embury has been charged both in America and \non our side of the Atlantic with being one of the party \nplaying cards when Mrs. Heck addressed him, this is \nthe proper place to examine the charge, and prove that \nit is utterly without foundation. So far as I know, \nthis charge was first published by the late Eev. Dr. \nBangs, in his History of the Methodist Episcopal Church. \nHe published it on the authority of a gentleman in New \nYork, who claimed to be the grandson of Mrs. Barbara \nHeck ; but, on thorough examination, this gentleman\'s \ngrandmother was proved to have been a very different \nperson from Mrs. Barbara Heck, and his version of the \ncircumstances are completely at issue with the facts of \nthe case, as detailed by the representatives of Mrs. \n\n* The names of the first Methodist congregation in America \nare worth transcribing here : \xe2\x80\x94 Barbara and Paul Heck, John \nLawrence (afterwards married to Mrs. Embury), Mrs. Embury, \nand "Betty," an African servant: \xe2\x80\x94 thus impressively fore- \nshadowing Methodism as the church of black and white, bond \nand free. \n\n\n\nORIGIN OF METHODISM IN NEW YORK. 91 \n\nHeck and Philip Embury. The latter, with one eon- \nsent, assert that Embury was not present, and this has \never been the tradition in both their families. This \ngentleman, who is, doubtless, a good man, relied upon \ntradition for his relationship to Mrs. Heck, the heroine \nof American Methodism ; but tradition failed to sustain \nhis claim, and the most distinguished advocates of that \nclaim had to bow to the overwhelming evidence on the \nother side, and were forced to admit that it could not \nbe sustained. And could any sensible man receive a \nserious slander against Embury resting on no better \nfoundation than this ? If the tradition failed on the \nmain issue \xe2\x80\x94 the question of relationship to Barbara \nHeck \xe2\x80\x94 does not the entire evidence of the witness fall \nto the ground 1 \n\nThe following is Dr. Eangs\'s account, as found in his \nHistory: \xe2\x80\x94 ^\'Philip Embury, and a batch of emigrant \nMethodists from Ireland, had so far given up their pro- \nfession as to become card-players, when another family \narrived from Ireland, amongst whom was \' a mother in \nIsrael,\' to whose zeal in the cause of God they were all \nindebted for the revival of the spirit of piety among \nthem. Soon after their arrival, this good woman ascer- \ntained that those who had preceded her had so far \ndeparted from their \' first love \' as to be mingling in \nthe frivolities and sinful amusements of life. The \nknowledge of this painful fact aroused her indignation ; \nand, with a zeal which deserves commendation, she \nsuddenly entered the room where they were assembled, \nseized the pack of cards with which they were playing, \n\n\n\n92 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK. \n\n\n\nand threw them into the fire. Addressing Embury, \nshe said, \' You must preach to us, or we shall all go to \nhell together, and God will require our blood at your \nhands.\'"* Dr. Porter and others in America, and Dr. \nDixon, Dr. George Smith, and others in England, have \ncopied Dr. Bangs\'s account, and thus it has obtained \ncurrency in England and America. \n\nOn this statement of Dr. Bangs, I beg to offer two \nor three remarks : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n1. It will be borne in mind that we have no evidence \nagainst Embury but this extract, and the person who \nsupplied it to Dr. Bangs, supposed himself to be the \ngrandson of Mrs. Heck, the elect lady in question \xe2\x80\x94 a \nclaim which, when thoroughly sifted by the Eev. John \nCarroll, of Canada, t fell to the ground, and the entire \nstory falls with his claim. \n\n2. Dr. Bangs himself, published an account identical \nsubstantially with ours, which he received from some \nof the aged Methodists in New York, between forty and \nfifty years ago, which is worth transcription here. \n"Having thus destroyed their playthings, she ivent to \nMr. Embury, the local preacher, and prostrated herself \nbefore him, entreated him with tears to call a meeting \nand preach to them, enforcing her entreaties by admon- \nishing him, that unless he complied the people would \ngo to hell, and that God would require their blood at \nhis hands.".]; \n\n* Dr. Bangs\'s History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, I. 47. \nf See Carroll\'s Correspondence with Wakeley, in Toronto \nChristian Guardian for 1859. \nX Dr. Bangs in American Methodist Magazine, 1823, p. 381. \n\n\n\nORIGIN OF METHODISM IN NEW YORK. 93 \n\n3. We have the evidence of the Eev. Abraham \nBiniger, a Moravian Minister who accompanied Embury \nto Canada, and who ultimately laid him in his grave. \nHe stated most distinctly that Embury was not present, \nbut that he was at home, and that there the mother of \nAmerican Methodism went and expostulated with him.* \n\n4. The following most important letter from the \nRev. William M. Chipp, of the Methodist Episcopal \nChurch, to the Eev. J. B. Wakeley, must set this \nslander for ever at rest : \xe2\x80\x94 " In the winter of 1846, by \ninvitation, I accompanied a number of English Wes- \nleyans in a missionary tour in the southern section of \nCanada East. In the course of the week we came to \nPhilipsburgh, a town not far from the northern line of \nVermont. I was requested, by several of these English \nministers, in the remarks I might offer that evening, to \nrefer to the introduction of Methodism into the United \nStates. In complying with that request, I mentioned \nthe name of Philip Embury. That moment the chair- \nman arose, and desired me to pause for a moment, re- \nmarking, \' The son of Philip Embury is in the house.\' \nHe requested Mr. Embury to come upon the platform, \nand he did so. I was introduced to him in that public \nmanner. ... I proceeded to speak of Philip \nEmbury\'s agency in introducing Methodism in America. \nIn referring to the party of card-players, I spoke of \nMr. Embury as being present, and the rebuke that \nMrs. Heck administered to him. At that time I sup- \nposed that the commonly-received account was the true \none. A few weeks after this meeting, the Eev. John \n\n* "Wakeley\'s Lost Chapters. \n\n\n\n94 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK. \n\n\n\nB. Shelley, of the British Conference, at that time \nlabouring in Canada, visited me at St. Albans, Vermont, \nwhen I was stationed there, and informed me that the \nson of Embury complained that I had innocently done \ninjustice to the memory of his father in my address at \nPhilipsburgh, and that the commonly-received version \nwas not correct. Mr. Shelley said also that Mr. \nEmbury\'s son had requested him to inform me that he \nhad frequently heard Ms father converse on the subject, \nand his account of it was as follows : \xe2\x80\x94 \xc2\xa3 Mrs. Heck \nwent one evening to a neighbour\'s house, and found \na company engaged in playing cards. Philip Embury \nwas not present. Some of those present had been \nMethodists in Ireland. Mrs. Heck administered to \nthem a reproof, and threw the cards away. She then \nwent to Mr. Embury\'s house, and found him alone. \nShe entreated him with tears to preach to the people, \nand said, "We shall all go to hell together, and God \nwill require our blood at your hands." At first he \ndeclined, but finally consented, and in the course of \nthe week preached his first sermon in America to five \npersons in his own house.\' Mr. Shelley further in- \nformed me, on the authority of Philip Embury\'s son, \nthat his father always maintained a regard for reli- \ngious things, and kept up the worship of God in his \nfamily. I have most implicit confidence in the state \nment that Philip Embury\'s son made to me through \nMr. Shelley." \n\nCan anything be more conclusive than this important \ndocument 1 Mr. Samuel Embury was the first Metho- \n\n\n\nORIGIN OF METHODISM IN NEW YORK. \n\n\n\n95 \n\n\n\ndist Class Leader in Canada, and Mrs. Heck was a \nmember in that first class. I think that I may regard \nthis question as finally set at rest. The slander should \nbe forthwith expunged from every Methodist book on \nboth sides of the Atlantic, and every Methodist should \nindignantly repudiate it, and challenge the proof.* \nUntil I see a conclusive reply to the above, I shall \nregard this sheet as having wiped off a foul stain \nfrom the honoured name and memory of Philip \nEmbury. \n\nEmbury\'s first sermon was, as we have seen, preached \nin his own hired house, to a congregation of five persons, \nand, so far as I can ascertain, in October, 1766. The \nhouse stood in Barrack Street, now Park Place, !New \nYork. It was an humble cottage, with a single window \nin front, but neat and comfortable. This was the first \nMethodist Meeting-house in America, and here the first \nclass met Sabbath after Sabbath. What a hallowed \nand memorable spot ! I have stood in the humble, \ntime-honoured dwelling in which the illustrious Bard \nof Avon was born. I have played when a child, and \nmused in riper years, along the banks of the Boyne, at \nthe spot wmere King William, of "immortal memory," \n\n* Airs. Heck sent a letter from New York to a friend in Ballin- \ngran, in which she gave an account of the transaction identical \nwith tke above. This letter was preserved for many years, and \nold Mrs. Buckle told me she had often read it, and had it in her \npossession for a long time. It was subsequently taken to \nAmerica by Mr. Christopher Ruckle., who emigrated some years \nsince, and settled, I think, in the State of Ohio. \n\n\n\n96 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK. \n\n\n\nrouted the Popish, army and secured for us and our \nchildren a Protestant Constitution and Government; and \nhave gazed on many another classic spot in Old England, \nScotland, and Ireland; but I question whether any \nother spot would have the same charms for me as the \nhumble cottage in which Philip Embury of Ballingran \nfirst preached the Gospel in New York. The house is \nlong since demolished, but a good picture of it has been \npreserved, from which our engraving is taken. It is \nimpossible to look on it without deep interest. \n\nIn a short time the congregation so increased under \nthe faithful ministry of Embury, that it was found \nnecessary to obtain a larger room ; and, accordingly, \nthe infant Church hired a large "upper room" in \nBarrack Street, about ten doors from the barracks, \nnow called Augusta Street. " Here," says Peter Parks, \nof New York, " a great excitement took place \namong the people; many were awakened and some \nconverted. Among them that were converted was \nmy grandmother, Catherine Taylor, and my mother \nMary Parks. At this time Mr. Embury formed a \nclass of all the members then in society, which was \ntwelve. There were three musicians belonging to the \nsixteenth regiment of the British troops, then stationed \nin the barracks in Barrack Street. Their names were \nJames Hodge, Addison Low, and John Buckley : they \nwere exhorters, and assisted Mr. Embury in the meet- \nings. There were some souls got awakened and con- \nverted in the poor-house. Mrs. Deverick was one, and, \nthrough her instrumentality, Mr. Embury was called to \n\n\n\nORIGIN OF METHODISM IN NEW YORK. \n\n\n\n97 \n\n\n\npreach in the poor-house. By this means, the master \nof the poor-house, Billy Littlewood, was awakened and \nconverted."* Thus " mightily grew the Word of the \nLord and prevailed;" so that, early in 1767, we find \nthat the little church had outgrown " the Upper Room," \nthe second Methodist preaching place in JSTew York, \nand had hired the far-famed " Eigging Loft," in Horse \nand Cart Street, now called William Street, and not far \nfrom John Street, so noted in American Methodism. \nThis loft was long and narrow, sixty feet hy eighteen. \nHere they erected a desk and benches, and here Embury- \npreached on Sabbath mornings at six o\'clock, and on \nSabbath evenings, and, after a time, on Thursday even- \nings also. About this time Charles White and \nRichard Sause, who were both Methodists in Dublin, \narrived from Ireland, and proved an important accession \nto the rising church. Both were pretty well off in the \nworld, and nobly identified themselves with the inte- \nrests of the little church worshipping in the " Rigging \nLoft." They were liberal contributors to John Street \nChapel \xe2\x80\x94 " The Cradle of American Methodism" \xe2\x80\x94 and \nearned for themselves an enduring renown by being \namongst the first trustees of Methodist property in \nAmerica, as we shall see by and by. \n\nWhen the little church had been worshipping for \nabout three months in the " Rigging Loft," one Sab- \nbath evening a strange-looking military gentleman \nappeared amongst them. He was dressed as an officer, \n\n* From a document found among the manuscripts of the late \nRev. Ezekiel Cooper. \nG \n\n\n\n98 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK. \n\n\n\nin full regimentals, and had lost one of his eyes \nat the siege of Loiiisburgh. He wore a green shade \nover the eye, and his appearance cansed general ex- \ncitement and inquiry. The fears of the little church \nspeedily gave place to great joy on learning that \nhe was a Methodist, who had been converted, under \nWesley, at Bristol, some three years before ; that he \nwas now barrack-master at Albany; and, best of all, \nthat he was a Local Preacher, who would assist Embury \nin ministering to the infant church the "Word of Life. \nHis name was Captain Webb \xe2\x80\x94 a name second only to \nthat of Embury in the history of the planting of \nAmerican Methodism. He preached in his regimentals, \nhis trusty sword lying on the desk, and drew vast \ncrowds. His word was attended with uncommon \npower. " The sword of the Spirit" was "buried up to \nthe hilt" in the refuges of lies, in which many slept at \nease in Zion ; and the " Eigging Loft," Sabbath after \nSabbath, resounded with the joyful notes of victory as \nthe wail of penitence gave place to songs of praise to \na pardoning God. Under his ministry, and that of the \nfaithful Embury, multitudes found peace and joy \nthrough believing, and the words of the prophet \nreceived a beautiful illustration \xe2\x80\x94 " The children that \nthou shalt have shall say in thine ears, The place is too \nstrait for me; give place to me that I may dwell." \nSpeedily the building of a church was proposed, and \narrangements made to carry the project into effect. In \nthe next chapter I shall show the part borne by Irish \ngenius and liberality in the noble enterprise of erecting \n\n\n\nORIGIN OF METHODISM IN NEW YORK. 99 \n\nJohn Street Chapel \xe2\x80\x94 " The Cradle of American \nMethodism." * \n\n*Dt. Coggeshall, a distinguished transatlantic authority in such \nmatters, said to my friend, the Rev. Dr. Scott, that he thought \nCaptain "Webb was an Irishman. Of course, I should like to \nthink so too ; but, though I have made a thorough search in \nevery available quarter, I have not been able to find any record \nas to the place of his birth, and I venture to think that it will \nnever be found out. John Prichard published a funeral sermon \non the occasion of his death, and Mr. Atmore read the service. \nBoth printed anything they knew of him nearly seventy years \nago, and, doubtless, if they knew of the place of his birth, or \ncould have found it out, it would have been printed in his \nfuneral sermon. He sleeps in Portland Chapel, Bristol, where \na neat monument has been erected to his memory, on which it \nis stated that "he founded the first Methodist churches" in \nAmerica, \xe2\x80\x94 a statement which is not historically correct. A \nlikeness of the veteran Captain, with the shade over his eye, \nmay be seen in Crowther\'s Portraiture of Methodism. Second \nEdit. 1815. \n\n\n\nPrfltp 0mfaurs auii Jits, leek: \n\n\'%\\t Craole of ^trarican: Pe^nbtsm." \n\n\n\n"A few years since I visited John Embury and his worthy companion. \nHe was then ninety-eight years old. The scenes of early Methodism in \nNew York were vivid in his recollection, and he referred to them as readily \nas if they had recently occurred. He said : \' My uncle, Philip Embury, \nwas a great man \xe2\x80\x94 a powerful preacher \xe2\x80\x94 a very powerful preacher. I had \nheard many ministers before, but nothing reached my heart till I heard my \nuncle Philip preach. I was then about sixteen. The Lord has since been \nmy trust and portion. I am now ninety-eight. Yes ! my uncle Philip was \na great preacher.\' Letter from, Rev. William Case, of Canada, to Rev. Dr. \nBangs." \xe2\x80\x94See Life and Times of the Rev. Dr. Bangs. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER Y. \n\n\n\nIMPORTANT LETTER FROM " T. T." (THOMAS TAYLOR) TO WESLEY \n\xe2\x80\x94 VALUE OF THIS LETTER IN FIXING THE DATE OF EMBURY\'S \nEMIGRATION AND THE ORIGIN OF METHODISM IN NEW YORK \n\xe2\x80\x94 LEASE OF JOHN STREET PROPERTY, AND TRUSTEES \xe2\x80\x94 \nEMBURY THE FIRST TRUSTEE AND FIRST TREASURER OF THE \nCHAPEL FUND \xe2\x80\x94 IRISH CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENTERPRISE \n\xe2\x80\x94 MRS. HECK THE ARCHITECT OF THE CHURCH \xe2\x80\x94 EMBURY\'S \nOPENING SERMON, IN OCTOBER, 1768\xe2\x80\x94 DESTRUCTION OF THE \n"RIGGING LOFT," 1854. \n\nrFHE original Chapel, built upon the site of the pre- \nsent noble John Street Methodist Episcopal Church, \nNew York, as being the first Methodist Church on the \nAmerican Continent, has been denominated " The \nCradle of American Methodism." In this chapter I \npurpose to show the place occupied by Embury and his \nIrish friends in this noble enterprise. I feel that I \ncannot more suitably introduce this branch of my sub- \nject than by giving the friendly reader the following- \nmost important letter in full. It was found by the late \nRev. Charles Atmore amongst the papers of the late \n\n\n\n104 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK V \n\nEev. Christopher Hopper, was sent from New York to \nMr. Wesley, signed "T. T.," and by him probably sent \nto Mr. Hopper. It is likely that Wesley sent it to \nHopper, whom he regarded as one of his best men, with \nthe idea of inducing him to throw himself into the \ngreat American movement. Be this as it may, it is \ninferior in point of interest to no document that could \nbe published just now. It sheds a clear and beautiful \nlight upon Embury and his Irish friends amidst the \nearly struggles of the infant rising church. It will be \nseen that it is now upwards of ninety-eight years old, \nand was written more than a year and a-half before \nthe arrival of Messrs. Boardman and Pilmoor, the first \npreachers sent out by Wesley : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n"New York, 11th of April, 1768. \n" Eev. and very Dear Sir, \xe2\x80\x94 I intended writing to \nyou for several weeks past, but a few of us had a very \nmaterial transaction in view. I therefore postponed \nwriting, until I could give you a particular account \nthereof. This Avas the purchasing of ground for build- \ning a preaching-house upon, which, by the blessing of \nGod, we have now concluded. But, before I proceed, \nI shall give you a short account of the state of religion \nin this city. By the best intelligence I can collect, \nthere was little either of the form or power of it till \nMr. Whitefield came over, thirty years ago ; and, even \nafter his first and second visit, there appeared but little \nfruit of his labours. But, during his visit fourteen or \nfifteen years ago, there was a considerable shaking \n\n\n\n"THE CRADLE OF AMERICAN METHODISM." 105 \n\namong the dry bones. Divers were savingly converted, \nand this work was much increased in his last journey, \nabout fourteen years since, when his words were really \nas a hammer and as a fire. Most part of the adults \nwere stirred up ; great numbers pricked to tbe heart ; \nand, by a judgment of charity, several found peace and \njoy in believing. The consequence of this work was, \nthe churches were crowded, and subscriptions raised for \nbuilding new ones. Mr. Whitefield\'s example provoked \nmost of the ministers to a much greater degree of \nearnestness ; and, by the multitudes of people, young \nand old, rich and poor, flocking to the churches, religion \nbecame an honourable profession. There was no out- \nward cross to be taken up therein \xe2\x80\x94 nay, a person who \ncould not speak about the grace of God, and tbe new \nbirth, was esteemed unfit for genteel company. But in \na while, instead of pressing forward and growing in \ngrace (as he exhorted them), the generality were plead- \ning for the remains of sin, and the necessity of being \nin darkness. They esteemed their opinions as tbe very \nessentials of Christianity, and regarded not holiness \neither of heart or life. \n\n" The above appears to me to be a genuine account \nof the state of religion in New York eighteen months \nago, when it pleased God to rouse up Mr. Embury to \nemploy his talent (which, for several years, had been, as \nit were, hid in a napkin), by calling sinners to repent- \nance, and exhorting believers to let their light shine \nbefore men. He spoke at first only in his own house. \nA few were collected together, and joined in a little \n\n\n\n106 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK : \n\nsociety \xe2\x80\x94 chiefly his own countrymen, Irish. In about \nthree months after, Brother White and Brother Sause, \nfrom Dublin, joined them. They then rented an empty \nroom in their neighbourhood, which was in the most \ninfamous street in the city, adjoining the barracks. \nFor some time few thought it worth their while to \nhear \xe2\x80\xa2 but God so ordered it by His Providence, that, \nabout fourteen months ago, Captain Webb, barrack- \nmaster at Albany (who was converted about three years \nsince at Bristol), found them out, and preached in his \nregimentals. The novelty of a man preaching in a \nscarlet coat soon brought greater numbers to hear than \nthe room could contain. But his doctrines were quite \nnew to the hearers ; for he told them, point blank, that \nall their knowledge and profession of religion was not \nworth a rush, unless their sins were forgiven, and they \nhad the witness of God\'s Spirit with theirs, that they \nwere the children of God. This strange doctrine, with \nsome peculiarities in his person, made him soon to be \ntaken notice of, and obliged the little Society to look \nout for a larger house to preach in. They soon found \na place that had been built for a rigging-house, sixty \nfeet in length, and eighteen in breadth. \n\n"About this period, Mr. Webb, whose wife\'s relations \nlived at Jamaica, on Long Island, took a house in that \nneighbourhood, and began to preach in his own house, \nand several other places on Long Island. Within six \nmonths, about twenty-four persons received justifying \ngrace \xe2\x80\x94 near half of them whites, the rest negroes. \nWhile Mr. Webb, to borrow his own phrase, was \n\n\n\n"THE CRADLE OP AMERICAN METHODISM." 107 \n\n\' Felling the trees on Long Island,\' Brother Embury \nwas exhorting all who attended on Thursday evenings, \nand Sunday mornings and evenings, at the 4 Rigging \nHouse,\' to flee from the wrath to come. His hearers \nbegan to increase, and some gave heed to his report, \nabout the time the gracious providence of God brought \nme safe to New York, after a very favourable passage \nof six weeks from Plymouth. It was the 26th day of \nOctober last when I arrived, recommended to a person \nfor lodging. I inquired of my host (who was a very \nreligious man) if any Methodists were in New York 1 \nHe informed me there was one Captain Webb, a strange \nsort of a man, who lived on Long Island, and some- \ntimes preached at one Embury\'s, at the \'Rigging \nHouse.\' In a few days I found out Embury. I soon \nfound what spirit he was of, and that he was personally \nacquainted with you and your doctrines, and had been \na helper in Ireland. He had formed two classes, one \nof the men and another of the women, but had never \nmet the Society apart from the congregation, although \nthere were six or seven men, and about the same \nnumber of women, who had a clear sense of their ac- \nceptance in the Beloved. \n\n" You will not wonder at my being agreeably sur- \nprised in meeting with a few here who have been, and \ndesire again to be, in connexion with you. God only \nknows the weight of the affliction I felt in leaving my \nnative country; but I have reason now to conclude \nGod intended all for my good. \n\n"Mr. Embury has lately been more zealous than \n\n\n\n108 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK \'. \n\nformerly \xe2\x80\x94 the consequence of which is, that he is more \nlively in preaching, and his gifts, as well as graces, are \nmnch increased. Great numbers of serious people came \nto hear God\'s Word, as for their lives, and their num- \nbers increased so fast, that our house, for this six weeks \npast, would not contain the half of the people. \n\n" We had some consultation how to remedy this in- \nconvenience, and Mr. Embury proposed renting a lot \nof ground for twenty-one years, and to exert our utmost \nendeavours to collect as much money as to build a \nwooden tabernacle. A piece of ground was proposed, \nthe ground-rent was agreed for, and the lease was to be \nexecuted in a few days. We, however, in the mean- \ntime, had two several days for fasting and prayer for \nthe direction of God and His blessing on our proceed- \nings, and Providence opened such a door as we had no \nexpectation of. A young man, a sincere Christian and \nconstant hearer, though not joined in Society, would not \ngive anything towards this house, but offered ten pounds \nto buy a lot of ground, went of his own accord to a lady \nwho had two lots to sell, on one of which there is a house \nthat rents for eighteen pounds per annum. He found the \npurchase-money of the two lots was six hundred pounds, \nwhich she was willing should remain in the purchaser\'s \nhands on good security. We called once more upon \nGod for His direction, and resolved to purchase the \nwhole. There are eight of us, who are joint-purchasers, \namong whom Mr. Webb and Mr. Lupton are men of \nproperty. I was determined the house should be on \nthe same footing as the Orphan House at Newcastle, \n\n\n\n"THE CRADLE OF AMERICAN METHODISM." 109 \n\nand others in England; but as we were ignorant how \nto draw the deeds, we purchased for us and our heirs, \nuntil a copy of the writing from England was sent us, \nwhich we desire may he sent by the first opportunity. \n\n" Before we began to talk of building, the devil and \nhis children were very peaceable ; but since this affair \ntook place, many ministers have cursed us in the name \nof the Lord, and laboured with all their might to shut \nup their congregations from assisting us.* But he that \nsitteth in heaven laughed them to scorn. Many have \nbroke through, and given their friendly assistance. We \nhave collected above one hundred pounds more than \nour own contributions, and have reason to hope, in the \nwhole, we shall have two hundred pounds more, so \nthat, unless God is pleased to raise up friends, we shall \nbe at a loss. I believe Messrs. Webb and Lupton will \nborrow or advance two hundred pounds rather than the \n\n* Perhaps I may as well add, in a foot-note, a fact which will \nillustrate the injury which Embury\'s Church sustained, as the \nresult of being cursed by the " Dutch Calvinists " and others, in \nthe name of the Lord. During the period of the Eevolutionary \nwar, when New York was in the possession of the British troops, \nevery church in the city was turned into a barrack, and all re- \nligious services, of course, suspended during the entire period, \nwith the solitary exception of Wesley Chapel, John Street! \nMeantime, not a single service was given up in it, or the \nslightest inconvenience experienced. On the contrary, it being \nthe only Church available in the city, it was crowded by eager \nmultitudes, and the collections rose, Sabbath after Sabbath, to \nan unprecedented amount. Perhaps it was all a matter of \ndecree\xe2\x80\x94 I don\'t know. I only know that it was a matter of \nfact. \n\n\n\n110 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK : \n\nbuilding should not go forward; but the interest of \nmoney here is a great burden, which is seven per cent. \nSome of our brethren proposed writing to you for a col- \nlection in England, but I was averse to this, as I well \nknew our friends there are overburdened already. Yet, \nso far as I would earnestly beg, if you would intimate \nour circumstances to particular persons of ability, per- \nhaps God would open their hearts to assist this infant \nSociety, and contribute to the first preaching-house on \nthe original Methodist plan in all America. But I shall \nwrite no more on this head. \n\n" There is another point far more material, and in \nwhich I must importune your assistance, not only in \nmy own name, but in the name of the whole Society. \nWe want an able, experienced preacher \xe2\x80\x94 one who has \nboth gifts and graces necessary for the work. God has \nnot despised the day of small things. There is a real \nwork in many hearts, by the preaching of Mr. Webb \nand Mr. Embury; but, although they are both useful, \nand their hearts in the work, they want many qualifi- \ncations necessary for such an undertaking, where they \nhave none to direct them. And the progress of the \nGospel here depends much on the qualifications of the \npreachers. \n\n" I have thought of Mr. Helton ; for, if possible, we \nmust have a man of wisdom, of sound faith, and a \ngood disciplinarian \xe2\x80\x94 one whose heart and soul are in \nthe work ; and I doubt not but, by the goodness of \nGod, such a flame would be soon kindled as would \nnever stop, until it reached the great South Sea. We \n\n\n\n" THE CEADLE OF AMERICAN METHODISM." Ill \n\n\n\nmay make many shifts to evade temporal inconveniences, \nbut we cannot purchase such a preacher as I have de- \nscribed. Dear Sir, I entreat you, for the good of \nthousands, to use your utmost endeavours to send one \nover. I would advise him to take shipping at Bristol, \nLiverpool, or Dublin, in the month of July, or early in \nAugust. By embarking at this season, he will have \nfine weather on his passage, and probably arrive here in \nthe month of September. He will see with his own \neyes, before winter, what progress the Gospel has made. \nWith respect to the money for payment of a preacher\'s \npassage over, if they could not procure it, we would \nsell our coats and shirts, and pay it. I most earnestly \nbeg an interest in your pra}^ers, and trust you and many \nof our brethren will not forget the Church in this \nwilderness. " T. T." \n\nThis is a noble document, " providentially found," as \nMr. Atmore says, equally creditable to the head and \nheart of the writer. I am sorry that the most diligent \nsearch has failed to find out more of the anonymous \nwriter than his name, Thomas Taylor ; that he was an \nEnglishman, well-known to Mr. Wesley; and one of \nthe illustrious eight who formed the first Methodist \nTrustees on the great American Continent. \n\nThis important document supplies corroborative evi- \ndence of the accuracy of 1760 as the date of Embury\'s \nemigration, and is most conclusive as to his having \ncommenced the regular services, as given in last chapter, \nin 1766. Mr. Taylor says that Embury commenced the \n\n\n\n112 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK : \n\nservices " about eighteen months ago." Supposing him \nto have preached his first sermon in his own house, in \nOctober, 1766, if we add eighteen months to that date, \nit will bring us down exactly to April, 1768 \xe2\x80\x94 the date \nof this letter. Mr. Taylor says that, at the period \nwhen Embury commenced in New York, " his talent \nhad lain in a napkin for several years" \xe2\x80\x94 namely, from \n1760, the date of his arrival, till October, 1766. \nNothing more satisfactory as to the true date of his \nemigration, and of the commencement of the regular \nreligious services, can be desired ; and could the \nMethodist Episcopal Church of the United States \nhave a more appropriate year in which to celebrate \nthe first Centenary of its existence than the grand \nprophetic year 1866 1 \n\nBy comparing this document with the lease of J ohn \nStreet property, we ascertain the name of the writer, \nand also the names of those who shared the responsi- \nbility and honour with him of forming the first Metho- \ndist Trustees on American soil. The writer says, \n" There are eight of us, who are joint-purchasers." The \nlease bears date 29th of March, 1768, and is between \nMary Barclay, executrix, and Andrew Barclay, Leonard \nLispenard, and David Clarkson, executors of the last \nwill and testament of Henry Barclay, late of the city of \n]STew York, clergyman, deceased, on the one part ; and \nPhilip Embury, William Lupton, Charles White, \nEichard Sause, Henry Newton, Paul Heck (husband ot \nMrs. Heck), and Thomas Taylor (the writer of this \nletter), all of the city of New York, and Thomas Webb \n\n\n\n"THE CRADLE OF AMERICAN METHODISM." 113 \n\n\n\n(Captain Webb), of Queen\'s County, of the other part. \nOn the outside is written : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" Mart Barclay, and others, -\\ \n\nto > Lease." \n\nPhilip Embury, and others, J \n\nThus, Mr. Taylor\'s letter and the original lease unite in \ngiving Embury a leading place in the spirited enter- \nprise of securing a site for " The Cradle of American \nMethodism." He was the first Trustee of American \nMethodism, as he was her first preacher. Who can \ntell how much of the ultimate success of this enter- \nprise, as well as of the noble and flourishing church of \nwhich it was destined to form the . " cradle," sprung \nfrom the days of fasting and solemn prayer on the part \nof Embury, Mrs. Heck, and that brave little band of \nfirst Trustees % \n\nThe " Old Book," containing the names of all the \nsubscribers to the new church, has been found, and is \na document of rare historic interest. The following is \nthe preamble, of which Bishop Janes has expressed his \nprofound admiration. I give it entire, inasmuch as it \nserves to illustrate Embury\'s position in the infant \nChurch : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" Preamble of the Subscription List, with the names of the Sub- \nscribers, and respective Sums given annext : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" A number of persons, desirous to worship God in \nspirit and truth, commonly called Methodists (under \nthe direction of the Eev. Mr. John Wesley), whom it \n\nH \n\n\n\n114 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK: \n\n\n\nis evident God has been pleased to bless in their meet- \nings in New York, thinking it would be more to the \nglory of God and the good of souls had they a more \nconvenient place to meet in, where the Gospel of Jesus \nChrist might be preached without distinction of sects \nor parties ; and, as Mr. Philip Embury is a member \nand helper in the Gospel, they humbly beg the assist- \nance of Christian friends, in order to enable them to \nbuild a small house for the purpose, not doubting but \nthe God of all consolation will abundantly bless all \nsuch as are willing to contribute to the same." \n\nThen follow the names, nearly 250 in all, from Cap- \ntain "Webb, who gave \xc2\xa330, down to coloured servants, \nwho gave Is. 6d. or 2s., making \xc2\xa3418 3s. 6d. Amongst \nthe subscribers we find: \xe2\x80\x94 Richard Sause, \xc2\xa313 5s.; \nCharles White, \xc2\xa35 ; Paul Heck (husband* of Mrs. \nHeck), \xc2\xa33 5s.; David Embury (Philip\'s brother), \xc2\xa32 ; \nand several others from Ireland. Embury\'s name does \nnot appear in the list. He was poor, and had no \nmoney to give ; but he contributed something to the \nenterprise which silver and gold were too poor to buy. \n\nThe idea of building a church originated with Mrs. \nHeck, who said that she had made it matter of special \nprayer. Strange to tell, this noble woman also was the \narchitect of the church, having supplied the plan, which \nwas thoroughly approved and adopted by general con- \n\n* Not son, as Wakeley says. She had no son Paul. This \nmistake arose from confounding Mrs. Hick, with Mrs. Barbara \nHeck. \n\n\n\n"THE CRADLE OF AMERICAN METHODISM." 115 \n\n\n\nsent. The length was sixty feet, by forty-two in width. \nIt was bnilt of common stone, covered with blue plaster. \nIt had a gallery, but for many years had no stairs, but \nthe people ascended by a ladder. The seats had no \nbacks at first, as the funds were low. The timber \nwork was done by Embury and David Morris. Embury\'s \nown hand constructed the pulpit. \n\nThe " Old Book" proves that Embury was also the first \nTreasurer of the Chapel Fund, and that he had the en- \ntire burden and responsibility, until relieved by the \nappointment of Mr. Lupton. Some idea of his services \nin this department may be gathered from the following \nreceipt from the mason who built the chapel : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n"Received, New York, 7th October, 1769, of Mr. \nWilliam Lupton, forty-three pounds, which, with the \ndifferent sums I have before received from Mr. Philip \nEmbury, amounts to the sum of five hundred and eleven \npounds, which is in full of all demands from the \nMethodist Preaching-House. \n\n\xc2\xa3511. "Samuel Edmonds."* \n\nThe opening sermon was preached by Embury, \nOctober 30th, 1768 \xe2\x80\x94 just two years after his first \nsermon in his own house \xe2\x80\x94 from Hosea, x. 12, "Sow to \nyourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up \nyour fallow ground : for it is time to seek the Lord, till \nhe come and rain righteousness upon you." With \ncharacteristic simplicity he said, that the best conse- \n\n* Grandfather to Judge Edmonds, the Spiritualist. Wakeley. \n\n\n\n116 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK, ETC. \n\ncration of a pulpit was to preach a good sermon \nin it. \n\nSuch, was the first Methodist Church in New York, \n" The Cradle of American Methodism," and such its \nopening service \xe2\x80\x94 simple, appropriate, beautiful. The \nhonest carpenter from Ballingran \xe2\x80\x94 the founder of \nAmerican Methodism \xe2\x80\x94 preaching the opening sermon \nin the first Methodist Church in the goodly land of his \nadoption, and amongst a people who loved and prized \nhim. What hath God wrought ! What a marvellous \nchange now, within one hundred years ! \n\nFrom this date "The Eigging Loft" was abandoned \nas a Methodist preaching-place, and John Street Church \nbecame the head-quarters of Methodism in the city. \nEmbury\'s church was demolished in 1817, to make way \nfor a new and enlarged edifice, adapted to the rising \nfortunes of the church, and in turn this new building \ngave place, in 1841, to the present noble church, known \nas John Street Church, the third built on this site. \n"The Eigging Loft" outlived Embury\'s church many \nyears. It was taken down in 1854, during some im- \nprovements in the street in which it stood. Many old \nMethodists bid it a fond adieu, as a place hallowed by \nprecious memories. The timbers were still sound, and \nwere converted into walking-sticks. An ivory head \nwas placed upon each, with the inscription, " Eigging \nLoft, 1766. Philip Embury." * Both timber and ivory \nwill crumbleto dust beneath the iron tooth of time, butthe \nname of Philip Embury will last long as time itself. \n* It should have been 1767. \n\n\n\n$|tlt\xc2\xa3 fctog anil Jlrs. Itcit \n\n\n\n" Why, this tree of Methodism has grown in one hundred years, so that \nit now not only casts its shade over the whole of this land, but many others \nsit also in its shadow. But here was its beginning in this God-educated, \nGod-empowered local preacher, upon whose ashes we gaze to-day; and if I \nhad before me to-day all the Methodists of this land, I would say to them \nthat when you depart from the simple but vital, God-approved truths and \naith which Embury preached and exercised, you largely lose your power \nfor good. \n\n" This occasion illustrates another truth, that the way of duty is the path \nto true honour. Read up carefully the history of our race, and you will \nfind that those persons who have come to the possession of true and im- \nmortal fame, are those who have simply done their duty in their respective \nspheres. Men have sometimes gained notoriety by other than dutiful or \ngood deeds ; but where is undying reputation, immortal honour to be found ? \nMinisters in our own Church who have sought distinction and honour in \nthe ministry, by seeking this place or that place, have sometimes in a mea- \nsure and for a time succeeded ; but to-day they are forgotten, while the \nmemory of this humble local preacher lives and shall live while the world \nendures, all because he did his duty in his identical place. Take the case \nof the Dairyman\'s daughter. How humble was her sphere, but in it she \ndid her duty, and there is no name of a queen on earth so truly honoured \nas is hers. So, too, the name of Philip Embury will live when the name \nof Napoleon shall be forgotten." \xe2\x80\x94 From an Address at the re-interment of \nEmbury\'s remains at Cambridge, New York, April 20th, 1866, by the Rev. \nBishop Janes. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. \n\n\n\n%i Camttttt: \n\nARRIVAL OF THOMAS ASHTON AND ROBERT WILLIAMS FROM \nIRELAND \xe2\x80\x94 WILLIAMS THE FIRST ITINERANT IN AMERICA, \nAND THE SPIRITUAL FATHER OF JESSE LEE \xe2\x80\x94 ASHTON AND \nHIS COLONY AT ASHGROVE \xe2\x80\x94 REV. ABRAHAM BININGER \xe2\x80\x94 \nARRIVAL OF BOARD MAN AND PILMOOR\xe2\x80\x94 EMBURY, PAUL AND \nMRS. HECK REMOVE TO CAMDEN \xe2\x80\x94 EMBURY FORMS A CLASS \nAT ASHGROVE \xe2\x80\x94 BECAME A MAGISTRATE \xe2\x80\x94 HIS DEATH IN 1773 \nCATHERINE LOWE \xe2\x80\x94 DEATH OF TWO OF HIS CHILDREN\xe2\x80\x94 MRS. \nEMBURY, PAUL AND BARBARA HECK REMOVE TO CANADA \xe2\x80\x94 \nASHTON AND CEMETERY AT ASHGROVE \xe2\x80\x94 REMOVAL OF EM- \nBURY\'S REMAINS TO ASHGROVE IN 1832\xe2\x80\x94 ORATION ON THE \nOCCASION BY JOHN NEWLAND MAFFITT \xe2\x80\x94 HIS TOMB. \n\nTTTESLEY CHAPEL, John Street, was about ten \n\' * months under Embury\'s care as the pastor, when \ntwo other illustrious strangers arrived from Ireland \xe2\x80\x94 \nThomas Ashton, from Dublin, " of blessed memory," \nand Robert Williams. Williams is allowed on all \nhands to have been one of the foremost spirits of his \nday \xe2\x80\x94 the first who issued a Quarterly ticket in America, \nthe first who published a book, the first of the heroic \n\n\n\n120 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK AT CAMDEN". \n\nLand of the Itinerancy who had the courage to enter \ninto the holy estate, and the first of the same noble \nhost who slept in Jesus beneath the green sward of the \nNew World. His success in winning souls to Christ \nwas truly marvellous. Bishop Asbury, in a splendid \neulogy pronounced over his remains in 1775, said of \nhim, " Probably no one in America has been an instru- \nment of awakening so many souls as God has awakened \nby him." Amongst the fruit of his memorable ministry \nwas Jesse Lee, the apostle of Methodism in New Eng- \nland \xe2\x80\x94 a man whose conversion was worth tens of \nthousands of ordinary converts to American Methodism. \nAnd does America really owe to Ireland her first \nItinerant preacher, as well as her first lay preacher, and \nthat Itinerant Eobert Williams, the spiritual father of \nJesse Lee % We shall see by and by. I shall be much \nmistaken if, when I come to Williams\'s honoured name, \nthe debt of American Methodism to Ireland will not \nassume new proportions in the eyes of Methodism on \nboth sides of the Atlantic. For the present I must \nfollow the story of Embury\'s life till we see him laid in \nhis final resting-place. \n\nAshton was a gentleman of means, and on com- \ning to New York in August, 1769, went north of \nNew York near Cambridge, and founded a colony, \nto which he gave his name Ashgrove. Many of his \ncountrymen, the Irish Palatines, went from New \nYork and settled on his property, and many more \nat Camden, Salem, not far from Ashgrove. Peter \nSwitzer, Mrs. Embury\'s brother, procured two hundred \n\n\n\nDEATH OP EMBURY. \n\n\n\n121 \n\n\n\nacres of land at a trifling rent, at East Salem, along the \nwinding Battenkill, and in due time many others of the \nIrish Palatines, including Philip and David Embury, \nPaul Heck and his noble wife, and the Dulmage, Tetler 7 \nLawrence, Morgan, and other families, settled about \nCamden, Salem. Amongst those who removed from \nNew York with them was the Eev. Abraham \nBininger, a Moravian minister, who, by the way, had \naccompanied Wesley to Georgia. \n\nIn October, 1769, Messrs. Boardman and Pilmoor \narrived in New York, from England, and took charge \nof Wesley Chapel, John Street. Embury was truly \nglad to be thus honourably released from his laborious \nservices in connexion with Methodism in New York, \nand be at liberty to devote some attention to the in- \nterests of his family. Accordingly, he removed from New \nYork, with his wife and three children, in April. 1770, \nand joined the colony at Salem. We find an entry in \nthe " Old Book," under date, April 10, 1770, of \xc2\xa32 5s. \nfor "a Concordance for Philip Embury;" this was \nprobably a parting gift from the little church to Philip, \nas they bid the founder of American Methodism fare- \nwell. It is the last entry in connexion with his name. \n\nIn 1770, Embury formed a Society at Ashgrove, \ncomposed principally of Irish Palatines, including \nPaul and Barbara Heck, and also the worthy Thomas \nAshton. This was the first Methodist Society formed \nwithin the bounds of the present Troy Conference, \nwhich has now a membership of upwards of twenty- \nfive thousand, between two and three hundred travel- \n\n\n\n122 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK AT CAMDEN. \n\nling preachers, and a proportionate staff of efficient \nlocal preachers. \n\nEmbury lived on the farm with Peter Switzer, at \nSalem, and there, Philip, his youngest child, was born. \nHe soon rose to a position of considerable influence in \nthe neighbourhood, and was not only a preacher, \nbut also a magistrate, who was familiarly designated \n" the Squire." I presume his position was identical \nwith that of Burgomaster, occupied by Philip Guier \nin Ballingran. \n\nIn the month of August, 1773, Philip was mowing \non his farm beneath a burning sun, and an attempt was \nmade by some who worked with him to outdo " the \nSquire." He was young and vigorous, and imprudently \ndrew upon his strength. It ended in pleurisy, of \nwhich, in a few days\' illness, he died, "in the full \ntriumph of that faith which he had preached to \nothers," at the early age of forty-five. Singularly \nenough, he was attended, in death, by the venerable \nAbraham Bininger, Wesley\'s early friend, who also laid \nhim in his humble grave, in the beautiful and seques- \ntered vale of Salem, beneath a giant oak, which, for \nmore than half a century, was his only monument. \n\nBininger, venerable in years and in piety, fell asleep \nat the advanced age of ninety-one, and rests in the \nsame beautiful valley. He was Swiss by birth, and \nfound a grave in the far West, near Wesley\'s friend, \nand his own, Philip Embury. \n\nAfter Embury\'s death, his widow and her four \nchildren removed to a house which he had built about \n\n\n\nDEATH OF EMBUKY. \n\n\n\n123 \n\n\n\na mile south of Switzer\'s farm. Here she managed to \nsupport herself, with the assistance of Catherine Lowe. \nCatherine was a young girl who accompanied the family \nof Peter Switzer from Ireland when she was about \nthirteen, and engaged to serve him till she was twenty- \nfive, in consideration of his having paid her passage. \nEmbury thought the bargain too severe, and, by making \nsome new and milder terms with Peter, gained an in- \nvaluable friend for his family in Catherine Lowe. \nAfter a time, Philip\'s two younger children, Anna and \nPhilip, died, and Catherine proved a faithful friend in \nthis sad and mournful hour. \n\nIn 1778, Catherine Lowe married Edward Gainor, \nfrom Ireland. She lived a godly life, and died peace- \nfully at the age of eighty years. Two of her daughters, \nMrs. Elemming and Mrs. Buck, became "mothers in \nIsrael," and have contributed a good many of the inter- \nesting facts given in this chapter. \n\nShortly after Catherine\'s marriage, the Revolutionary \nWar became most troublesome around New York, and \nEmbury\'s family, and others of the Irish Palatines, \nwere exposed to great privations and annoyances, as \nthey were suspected of being favourable to British rule \nin America. Ultimately, Mrs. Embury, with her chil- \ndren, Samuel and Catherine Elizabeth, Paul and Barbara \nHeck, and many other of the Irish Palatines, removed \nto Canada, "preferring the dominion of King George \nto a further participation in the sweets of liberty."* \n\n*See an excellent paper, already referred to, by the Kev. \nGeorge G-. Saxe, A. M. , in Ladies 1 Repository. \n\n\n\n124 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK AT CAMDEN. \n\nThey settled about Augusta, Canada West, where we \nshall meet them by and by, when I come to speak of \nCanada. For the present I must bid them farewell. \n\nI return and add a few closing words about Ashton, \nAshgrove, and Philip Embury. Ashton became the \nchief pillar of the Ashgrove Methodist Society, and his \nhouse the friendly home of the Itinerants. " He left \na legacy of three acres of land for a parsonage, and an \nannuity to the end of time for the oldest unmarried \nmember of the New York Conference, the payment of \nwhich still reminds the preachers annually of his eccen- \ntric Irish liberality."* He was not a bachelor, but I \npresume wished to relieve the funds of the church, and \nhence, permanently endowed single blessedness. The \nwonder is, that in the progressive times in which we \nlive a single claimant can be found. \n\nOn the Ashgrove property a small Methodist \ncemetery has been constructed, within which sleep \nAshton himself, and many of the Irish Palatines, and \nDavid Brown and David Noble \xe2\x80\x94 two of Embury\'s \nillustrious countrymen \xe2\x80\x94 well known in the ministry of \nthe Methodist Episcopal Church. What more appro- \npriate and beautiful final resting-place for the dust of \nPhilip Embury ? \n\nEor forty-nine years the dust of Embury had slept \nbeneath the giant oak " where the grey -haired men of \nother days" had laid him; but, in 1832, when the \nChurch had awoke to a consciousness of his value, it \nwas resolved to exhume his bones, now crumbling to \n* Dr. Stevens\'s History of M. E. Church, I. p. 84. \n\n\n\nDEATH OF EMBURY. \n\n\n\n125 \n\n\n\ndust, and remove them to Ashgrove. A vast concourse \nof friends, to whom his name and memory were de- \nservedly dear, assembled on the occasion. An oration \nwas delivered by John Newland Maffitt, a brilliant \nIrishman, from Dublin. It was subsequently printed, \nand had a large circulation at the time. I give a few \nparagraphs from it, as probably not one of my readers \nin Ireland ever saw it : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" My Beloved Hearers, \xe2\x80\x94 In this sequestered spot, \nwhere the quiet herds have grazed in peace, where the \nrobin has sung his early song, and the snow-bird played \nwith the descending flakes of winter, even here \nmoulders the frame of a man. Bone after bone hath \nhere returned to the dust from whence man was origi- \nnally taken. Dig down now, after this lapse of years, \ndig down now, and see if here we can find EMBURY. \nHere the grey-haired men of other days laid him, the \ncold remains of a minister of Jesus, when his day of \nlabour was over. Here, one day, when the hearse \nslowly wound along this path, they gathered, not to see \nthe man of God in his mightiest strength when the oil \nof eloquence is on his lips, and the anointing of the \nMost High shines upon his face, but to see a minister \nof the New Testament, cold and lifeless as was his \nSaviour when taken down from the bloody cross on \nCalvary. Cold, cold in death was the pious, warm- \nhearted Embury when they laid him here. \n\n" Summer and Winter came and went again. The \ngrass grew tall and rank over this mound. It became \nlevel with the surrounding earth. The place was fad- \n\n\n\n126 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK AT CAMDEN". \n\ning from the memory of man, for lo ! many who dug \nand covered this grave went themselves to their last \nresting-place, and laid their time-wearied heads on that \ncoarse pillow of gravel. \n\n" I have made these preliminary remarks, suggested \nas they have been by the strange circumstances which \nhave called us together. Not to bury the dead, mot to \ndisinter his mouldering remains, have we come together; \nnot to shed a tear over Embury dead ! But to thank \nGod that so good a man ever lived, and to rear a frail \nstone over his dust, which may tell his name and our \nreverence for his virtues for four or five generations yet \nto come. Then this very marble which we rear to-clay \nshall gather the rust of years \xe2\x80\x94 the gnawing tooth of time \nshall eat away our inscription \xe2\x80\x94 and men shall wonder \nat the ragged fragment of a monument that shall \ncumber this ground, and guess by what wild chance it \nstrayed away from its native quarry. We come here \nto-day, after a lapse of years, to rear a monument over \none of the nursing fathers of Methodism in America. \n\n" No common dust moulders beneath our feet. Here \nfell a harnessed warrior of the cross. Embury was the \nfounder of Methodism in the city of New York. We \nknow not his path in another land beyond the blue \nwaves of the Atlantic. He was my countryman, but \nwhether his path was one of light or darkness, of gloom \nor glory, in his native isle, I know not. But this I \nknow, and record it to his eternal honour, that he was \ndeemed worthy by the Holy Spirit to institute Wesley- \nanism in the city of New York. \n\n\n\nDEATH OF EMBURY. \n\n\n\n127 \n\n\n\n"Here let me beg the indulgence of my audience, \nwhile I take a farewell of the relics of the dead, which \nare so near me. He had, perhaps, no sympathizing \nfriend to say Farewell, and God be ivith thee ! in the \nlast hour. The one who echoes his adieu over his grave \nwas not then born ; he had not breathed that breath of \nlife which was then departing from Embury. But now, \ndeparted shade, I come on my pilgrimage to speak my \nfarewell, and raise a stone above thy ashes. Farewell, \nmy brother ! more than brother, father in God ! Fare- \nwell ! until the red morning of the resurrection sparkles \nover yonder hills, and the tremendous voice of the \ntrumpet shall bid thee come forth radiant in more \nbeauty than ever earth beheld. Farewell, until I too \nshall pass to where thou art in thy resting place of \npeace. Farewell, until shadows stretch over time with \na gloomy magnificence, and the night that knows no \nbreaking sets in upon me. Farewell, my countryman ! \nmore than mine, the countryman of Jesus, a chosen \nvessel of his love, an instrument in his mighty hand of \nplanting the precious seeds of the eternal kingdom on \nthese Western shores in the trying early times. Often \nin the journey of life shall my memory revert to this \nscene \xe2\x80\x94 often shall I remember the once unknown and \nundistinguished grave. Often shall I gather, departed \nshade, from these memorials, a precious lesson of the \neternal care of the Saviour over the wasting dust of his \nchosen. How shall I learn how worthless is time, how \nprecious is eternity ! Travelling back from future times, \nmy memory will often repose on the spot, where thou, \n\n\n\n128 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK AT CAMDEN. \n\n\n\nmy father, resteth in the full glory of recompense. \nAnd now, till we meet, farewell. \n\n" . . . But see ! a heavenly form breaks forth \nfrom the dust beneath our feet, scattering the soil of \ncenturies from his radiant brow, and, fresh in the glow \nof a young immortality, Embury rises to the resurrection \nof the just. This is the day he long looked for, and \nthought of, and warned sinners of, when he was in life. \nIt has come. He no longer needs a frail slab of marble \nto mark the spot of his grave, for now he is known as \nfar as immortal souls can glance their untiring eyes \xe2\x80\x94 as \nfar as the accents of Jesus\' s voice can echo his welcome, \nNo more he fills a stranger\'s grave. JSTo more he needs \nthe eulogy of a man he never saw. ~No more he labours \nat his trade, for he has, through the strength of the \nLord Jesus, wrought out a crown of eternal life, and he \nnow takes it from the hands of celestial ones, who kiss \nhis death-cold brow into the warmth of a beautiful im- \nmortality. Let me die the death, that I may wear the \ncrown of Embury. Let me live the life, that I may \nwin the spirit-watched grave of my departed country- \nman."* \n\nThough, perhaps, there is rather much of the tin- \nselled eloquence of Charles Phillips, and too little of \nthe manly vigour of Grattan about this address, still, \nwhen delivered in Maffitt\'s best style, it produced a \n\n* From \' \' An Oration delivered, June, 1832, at Ashgrove, \nWashington County, New York, over the grave of Philip Embury, \nthe earliest minister in the American Methodist Church. By \nRev. John Newland Maffitt. \n\n\n\nDEATH OF EMBURY. \n\n\n\n129 \n\n\n\nwonderful impression, and, by common repute, was re- \ngarded as his masterpiece. At its close, the dust of \nEmbury was laid in the beautiful cemetery at Ashgrove. \nHe sleeps near his friend Ashton, and next to his \ncountrymen and companions in arms, David Noble and \nDavid Brown. \n\nOver his honoured dust a neat marble tablet has been \nerected, bearing the following appropriate inscription : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n\n\nPHILIP EMBURY, \n\nThe Earliest American Preacher of the Methodist \nEpiscopal Church, here found his last \nearthly resting-place. \n\n\xe2\x80\xa2 \' Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of \nhis saints." \n\nBorn in Ireland, an emigrant to New York, Em- \nbury was the first to gather a class in that city, \nand to set in motion a train of measures \nwhich resulted in the founding of \nJohn Street Church, the Cradle \nof American Methodism, \nand the introduction \nof a system which \nhas beautified \nthe earth with salvation, \nand increased the joys of heaven. \n\n\n\nI reprint this chapter substantially as it appeared in the Irish \nEvangelist for May, 1866. Since it was published, the remains of \nEmbury have been again exhumed, and now finally repose at \n\n\n\nI \n\n\n\n130 PHILIP EMBURY AND MRS. HECK AT CAMDEN. \n\nCambridge \xe2\x80\x94 a most charming spot \xe2\x80\x94 not .far from Ashgrove. \nDuring the session of the Troy Conference at Cambridge, in \nApril last, under the presidency of Bishop Janes, a day was \nfixed for the ceremony of removal. All the members of the \nConference were present, and a large concourse of citizens. The \nRev. John Pegg engaged in prayer, and an appropriate address \nwas delivered by Bishop Janes, and also by the Bev. S. D. \nBrown, of the New York Conference. See the New York \nChristian Advocate for May 3, 1866, which contains a full report \nof the address of Bishop Janes. \n\nAs John Newland Maffitt\'s name is connected in so in- \nteresting a way with that of Embury, the friendly reader will \nexcuse the following extract, which illustrates, to some extent, \nhis wonderful popularity in America when in the zenith of his \npower : \xe2\x80\x94 " Once, in the city of Boston, the writer of this gave \nout an appointment for Mr. Maffitt, at the close of the morning \nservice, that he would preach that afternoon and evening in one \nof the largest audience-rooms in the capital of Massachusetts. \nIt had not been known a moment before to the public that he \nwas anywhere within the neighbourhood of Boston. The after- \nnoon and evening came ; a sea-coast storm of wind and rain had \nset in soon after the morning hour, and before the second service \nof the day began it rained in torrents, and continued to rain \nmore and more copiously from that time through the night. \nThe tempest was so black with cloud, and fog, and rain, that the \ngas lights had to be lit in the afternoon to enable the audience to \nfind their seats. There was not another man in Boston, nor in \nMassachusetts, excepting only Baniel Webster, who could have \ncalled out a hundred gentlemen under circumstances so utterly \nunpropitious. Mr. Mamtt\'s audiences, however, both afternoon \nand evening, made up of about the usual proportions of the \nsexes, were as brilliant as can be imagined. The place was the \nold Federal Street Theatre ; it was packed from pit to dome \nwith the elite of Boston ; not only were all the seats, but the \n\n\n\nDEATH OF EMBURY. \n\n\n\n131 \n\n\n\naisles and corners were densely crowded \xe2\x80\x94 hundreds of ladies "being \nobliged to stand below and in all the four galleries, because the \nwhole living mass was so wedged in that no gentleman could \nmove out of his place to make a vacancy. The more venture- \nsome, crowded more and more by those pushing forward from the \ndoors, clung to the front railings of the galleries, where they \nseemed to hang like bees when swarming ; and when the preacher \narose to read the first hymn, and the full head of gas was poured \non the scene, it was both curious and exhilarating to behold \nwhat multitudes of human beings, gathered by so brief a notice, \ncould be so crammed together. The next morning I was told \n, by the sexton that, though all the ladies, and most of the \ngentlemen, were compelled to come in carriages, nearly as many \narrived and rode away, after the house was full, as had been \nadmitted. This, however, was the universal experience of Mr. \nMaffitt, for it was at this time only a few days before this visit \nto Boston that the street in New York on which stood the \nchurch in which he had been advertised to preach, had been so \nblocked by the masses of carriages and foot passengers striving to \nmake their way to the spot that it had to be cleared by the help \nof the municipal authorities." \xe2\x80\x94 From Methodism Successful, and \nthe Internal Causes of its Success. By Eev. B. F. Tefft, \nD.D., LL.D., p. 154, 155. \n\n\n\nMtxt MUams: \n\nCjft Jfirsi %mmtm ffittfrant. \n\n\n\n"To Robert Williams belongs the distinction of being the first Metho- \ndist Itinerant who crossed the Atlantic, and the first Methodist preacher, \nItinerant or Local, who came to this country for the express purpose of \npreaching the Gospel. He was the pioneer of our Church in the States of \nVirginia and North Carolina. He was the first in America to enlist the \npress in the service of Methodism ; \' the first Methodist preacher in this \neountry who married, the first who located, and the first to die.\' Though \n1 no man knoweth the place of his sepulchre,\' his name will be had in \neverlasting remembranck." \xe2\x80\x94 From Letter of " W." in New York "Chris- \ntian Advocate" of May 24, 1866. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII. \n\nCfj\xc2\xa3 jfzrsi %mtxumx Jthuranf. \n\nDISPOSITION ON THE PART OF METHODIST WRITERS IN AME- \nRICA TO DO FULL JUSTICE TO IRISH METHODISM\xe2\x80\x94 MISTAKE \nOF WAKE LEY AND DR. STEVENS AS TO ROBERT WILLIAMS \xe2\x80\x94 \nHE WAS NOT A "LAY EVANGELIST," BUT A MEMBER OF THE \nIRISH CONFERENCE\xe2\x80\x94 CAME TO AMERICA WITH ASHTON\xe2\x80\x94 WAS \nIN CHARGE AND ISSUED TICKETS BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF \nBOARDMAN AND PILMOOR \xe2\x80\x94 HIS CHARACTER AND GREAT \nSERVICES \xe2\x80\x94 GERM OF " THE BOOK CONCERN "\xe2\x80\x94 HIS ENDURING \nMEMORIAL. \n\nTRISH METHODISTS have no cause to complain \nthat our brethren in America have done but scanty \njustice to the influence and services of Irish Methodism. \nOn the contrary, it gratifies me to say that the most \nprominent spirits in our transatlantic churches seem to \nvie with each other in doing full justice to " the old \ncountry." Hence, I am sure they will rejoice to learn \nthat Robert Williams, the first of the noble band of \nthe Itinerancy, and the spiritual father of Jesse Lee, \nwas, like Embury, an emigrant from Ireland, and forms \na most important item, hitherto unknown, in the vast \ndebt of American Methodism to Ireland. \n\n\n\n136 \n\n\n\nROBERT WILLIAMS: \n\n\n\nDr. Stevens, the accomplished Historian of the \nMethodist Episcopal Church, Mr. Wakeley, Mr. \nLednum, and Bishop Asbury, have all done full \njustice to Williams\'s character and great services ; but \nnone of them knew that he was an Irish Methodist \npreacher, and got the training in the saddle, in the days \nof the primitive Itinerancy in this land, which made \nhim the noble man he was in America. Mr. Wakeley \ntells us that " Eobert Williams was a Local Preacher \nfrom England, who came to this country in the early \npart of the year 1769." He evidently was not quite \nsatisfied with his theory of Williams as a Local \nPreacher, and hence he adds, " There has always been \nmore or less of mystery connected with his name and \nhistory. What little we know of him makes us \nanxious to know more."* Dr. Stevens has fallen into \nthe same mistake. He says, speaking of the origin of \nMethodism in America, " The news of the dawn of \ntheir cause in the 2sTew World spread among the people \nbefore the Annual Conference was called upon to recog- \nnize and provide for it ; and, before the Itinerant mis- \nsionaries could be despatched across the Atlantic, \nhumbler men, imbued with the enthusiasm of the new \nmovement, were ready to throw themselves upon the \nhazards of the distant field, that they might share in \nits first combats. One of these, Eobert Williams, \napplied to Wesley for authority to preach there. Per- \nmission was given him, on condition that he should \nlabour in subordination to the missionaries who were \n\n\n\n* Wakeley\'s Lost Chapters, p. 190. \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST AMERICAN ITINERANT. \n\n\n\n137 \n\n\n\nabout to be sent out." Elsewhere be calls Williams a \n" lay evangelist," like Embury and Strawbridge, and \nspeaks of Boardman and Pilmoor as the first of Wesley\'s \nItinerants who appeared in America. Now, the truth \nis, that Williams was not a " lay evangelist" at all, but \nan accredited member of the Irish Conference. He \nwas taken out to travel at the Conference of 1766, and \nhis name will be found in the " Minutes" for that \nyear, amongst the Irish appointments, as follows : \xe2\x80\x94 \n" North- West (about Derry) \xe2\x80\x94 John Johnston, James \nMorgan. North-East (about Belfast and Coleraine) \xe2\x80\x94 \nJames Eea, Robert Williams." Under date Friday, \nApril 3, 1767, Wesley writes, " At the end of Dromore \nI met Eobert Williams, who showed me the way to \nNewry."* In 1767, he was stationed at Castlebar, \namid the wilds of Connaught, with William Pen- \nnington. \n\nWesley had something against him this year, probably \nsome slight opposition to the clergy, and the appointment \nstands thus in the "Minutes": \xe2\x80\x94 "Castlebar \xe2\x80\x94 W. \nPennington, Eobert W." At the Conference of 1768, \nhe stands again for Castlebar, thus \xe2\x80\x94 " Castlebar \xe2\x80\x94 W. \nCollins, E. W.," from which we may infer that he \nhad not fully recovered Wesley\'s confidence. The \nCastlebar Circuit of that day included the entire of the \npresent Sligo District, and Williams preached in his \nregular "round" in Sligo, Boyle, Manorhamilton, and \nneighbouring towns. He was a vigorous dissenter, \nand, unfortunately, cared but little for the Established \n* Wesley\'s Journal, III. 262. 1767. \n\n\n\n138 \n\n\n\nROBERT WILLIAMS: \n\n\n\nclergy \xe2\x80\x94 a circumstance which may to some extent ex- \nplain "Wesley\'s want of confidence in him, and shed \nsome light on the following notice from Wesley\'s \nJournal, written shortly before Williams\'s emigration to \nAmerica : \xe2\x80\x94 " Friday, May 5. \xe2\x80\x94 I rode over the Black \nMountains to Manorhamilton, so called from a poor \nwretch who settled here in the last century, who was \nfamous for nothing else but hanging up all the Irish who \nfell into his hands. There was a general love to the \nGospel here till simple R. W. preached against the \nclergy. It is strange every one does not see \xe2\x80\x94 1. \nThe sinfulness of railing at the clergy ; if they are blind \nleaders of the blind, then (says our Lord) 1 let them \nalone.\' 2. The foolishness of it. It can never do good, \nand has frequently done much harm."* About March, \n1769, tidings came to Ireland of Embury\'s success in \njNTew York, and Williams spoke to Wesley (who had had \nan urgent letter, as we have seen, from Thomas Taylor), \noffering to go, and asking his sanction and authority. \nWesley consented to his going, with the understanding, \nas given above by Dr. Stevens, that he was to " labour \nin subordination with the missionaries who were about \nto be sent out." Wesley\'s High Church prejudices, \ntaken in connection with the above note from his \nJournal as to Williams\'s preaching at Manorhamilton, \nwill sufficiently explain this arrangement. Williams\'s I \nimpatient zeal panted for the moral conflict in the \nNew World, and he resolved to be the first of \nWesley\'s Itinerants who appeared in America. He \n* Wesley\'s Journal, III. 343. 1769. The italics are mine. \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST AMERICAN ITINERANT. 139 \n\nwas poor, and had no way of paying his passage ; \nbut he wrote to his friend Ashton in Dublin, and \npersuaded him to emigrate with him, and pay his \npassage ! Hearing that Ashton was ready to leave, \nWilliams hastily left Castlebar, sold his horse to pay \nhis debts, and pay his way to Dublin, and, carrying his \nsaddle-bags on his arm, set off for the ship, with a loaf \nof bread, a bottle of milk, and no money for his \npassage."* Ashton met him according to promise, and \ncheerfully paid his passage. They arrived in New \nYork in August, 1769, " two months at least "t before \nBoardman and Pilmoor. Thus Ireland lost Robert \nWilliams, and America gained " the apostle of \nMethodism" in Virginia and North Carolina, the \nspiritual father of Jesse Lee, of William Watters, the \nfirst native American Itinerant, and of a multitude \nwhom no man could number. \n\nImmediately on his arrival in New York, Williams \nassumed the pastoral charge of the society ; and we find \nin the "Old Book," to which I have so often referred, \nunder date, 20th September, 1769 \xe2\x80\x94 To cash paid Mr. \nJaryis for a hat for Mr. Williams, \xc2\xa32 5s. To cash for \na letter for Mr. Williams, from Dublin, 2s. 8d. ; and \nsundry charges for medicine, flannel, cloak, together \nwith \xc2\xa33 16s. 8d. for the support of his horse \xe2\x80\x94 the first \nthat carried a Methodist Itinerant in America ! By the \nway, beards were not in fashion in the days of the \nprimitive Itinerancy; or the church might have saved \n\n* Jesse Lee\'s History, p. 27. \nf See Lednum, chap. 8. \n\n\n\n140 \n\n\n\nROBERT WILLIAMS: \n\n\n\nthe following bill, under date, 26th July, 1770\xe2\x80\x94 To \ncash paid Mr. Mallory, for shaving preachers, \xc2\xa32 5s. 6d. \nThere were tl^ee by this date, still Mr. Mallory\' s bill \nwas smart enough. \n\nMr. Wakeley has published a Quarterly ticket, issued \nby Williams, and dated October 1, 1769. The following \nis a copy of this document \xe2\x80\x94 the first Methodist ticket \nissued in America : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nPsalm cxlvii. 11. October 1, 1769. \n\n" The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in \nthose that hope in his mercy." Hannah Dean. \n\nRobt. Williams, New York. 75. \n\nThis proves beyond all doubt that a member of the Irish \nConference gave tickets to the Church in New York, at \nleast a month before the arrival of Boardman and \nPilmoor. \n\nThe following summary of the character and labours of \nthis devoted Irishman is from the pen of Dr. Stevens : \xe2\x80\x94 \n"Williams immediately began his mission in Embury\'s \nChapel, and thenceforward, for about six years, was one \nof the most effective pioneers of American Methodism \n\xe2\x80\x94 the first Methodist minister in America that published \na book, the first that married, the first that located, and \nthe first that died." We have but little knowledge \nof his career, but sufficient to show that he had the \nfire and heroism of the original Itinerancy. He was \nstationed in John Street Church some time in 1771. \nHe laboured successfully with Strawbridge in founding \n\n\n\nTHE FIKST AMERICAN ITINERANT. 141 \n\nthe new cause in Baltimore County. In the first pub- \nlished Conference Minutes he is appointed to Peters- \nhurgh, Va. "He was the apostle of Mathodism in \nVirginia." He followed Strawbridge in founding it in \n1772, on the eastern shores of Maryland. In the same \nyear he appeared in Norfolk, Va. Taking his stand on \nthe steps of the Court-House, he collected a congregation \nby singing a hymn, and then preached with a plainness \nand energy so novel among them that they supposed he \nwas insane. No one invited him home, in a community \nnoted for hospitality \xe2\x80\x94 they were afraid of his supposed \nlunacy ; but on hearing him a second time their opinion \nwas changed. He was received to their houses, and \nsoon after a society was formed in the city, the germ of \nthe denomination in the state. In 1773 he travelled \nin various parts of Virginia. Jarrett, an apostolic \nchurchman, and afterwards a notable friend of the \nMethodists, encouraged his labours, and entertained him \na week at his parsonage. J arrett wrote, later, an account \nof "the work of God in these parts" \xe2\x80\x94 Sussex and \nBrunswick Counties \xe2\x80\x94 and says, " It was chiefly carried \non by the Methodists. The first of them that appeared \nthere was Eobert Williams, who was a plain, active, in- \ndefatigable preacher of the gospel. He was greatly \nblessed in detecting the hypocrite, razing false founda- \ntions, and stirring believers up to press after a present \nsalvation from the remains of sin. He came to my house \nin the month of March, in the year 1773. The next \nyear others of his brethren came, who gathered many \nsocieties both in this neighbourhood and in other places \n\n\n\n142 \n\n\n\nROEERT WILLIAMS: \n\n\n\nas far as North Carolina. They now began to ride the \nCircuit, and to take care of the societies already formed, \nwhich were rendered a happy means both of deepening \nand spreading the work of God."* \n\n" Williams formed the first Circuit of Virginia. A sig- \nnal example of his usefulness (incalculable in its results) \nwas the conversion of Jesse Lee. He was "the spiritual \nfather" of this heroic Itinerant, the founder of Metho- \ndism in New England. Mr. Lee\'s parents opened their \ndoors for him to preach. They were converted. Two \nof their sons became Methodist ministers, and their \nother children shared largely in the blessings of the \ngospel, which he proclaimed with such naming zeal, \nholy ardour, and great success." f The religious interest \nexcited by Williams\'s labours soon extended into North \nCarolina, and opened the way for the southward ad- \nvancement of Methodism. " He bore back to Phila- \ndelphia," says Asbury, " a flaming account of the work \nin Virginia; many of the people were ripe for the gospel, \nand ready to receive us." He returned, taking with \nhim a young man named William Watters, who was \nthus ushered into the ministry, and has ever since been \nhonoured as the first native American Itinerant. Leav- \ning him in the field already opened, Williams went \nhimself south-westward, as Providence opened the way. \nSubsequently he bore the cross into North Carolina. \nHe formed a six weeks\' circuit from Petersburg south- \nward over the Roanoke River, some distance into that \n\n* Asbury \'s Journals, 1776. \n\nt Wakeley\'s Heroes of Methodism, p. 174. \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST AMERICAN ITINERANT. 143 \n\n\n\nState, and thus became "the apostle of Methodism" in \nNorth Carolina, as well as Virginia. Like most of the \nItinerants of that day, he located after his marriage, and \nsettled between Norfolk and Suffolk, where, and in all \nthe surrounding regions, he continued to preach till his \ndeath, which occurred on the 26th of September, 1775. \nAsbury was now in the country, and at hand to bury \nthe zealous pioneer. He preached his funeral sermon, \nand records in his Journal the highest possible eulogy \non him. "He has been a very useful, laborious man. \nThe Lord gave him many souls to his ministry. Per- \nhaps no one in America has been an instrument of \nawakening so many souls as God has awakened by \nhim."* "He was a plain, pointed preacher, indefati- \ngable in his labours," says a historian of the Church. \n" That pious servant of the Lord," says Watters, his \nyoung fellow-traveller in the south. "The name of \nKobert Williams," says our earliest annalist, "still lives \nin the minds of many of his spiritual children. He \nproved the goodness of his doctrine by his tears in \npublic and by his life in private. He spared no pains \nin order to do good; standing on a stump, block, or log, \nhe sung, prayed, and preached to hundreds, as they \npassed along from their public resorts or churches. It \nwas* common with him after preaching to ask most of \nthe persons whom he spoke to some questions about the \nwelfare of their souls, and to encourage them to serve \nGod." He printed and circulated Wesley\'s sermons, \n"spreading them through the country, to the great ad- \n* Asbury\'s Journal, 1775. \n\n\n\n144 \n\n\n\nROBERT WILLIAMS: \n\n\n\nvantage of religion; they opened the way in many places \nfor our preachers, where these had never been before. \nThough dead, he yet speaketh by his faithful preaching \nand holy walk."* \n\nWhen Asbury first heard of Williams\'s publishing \nenterprise, he feared that it had been done "for the \nsake of gain," and remarks in his Journal, a This will \nnot do. It does by no means look well." He wrote to \nWesley on the subject, who, in reply, " enjoined that \nMr. W[illiams] might not print anymore books without \nhis consent." Hence, we find the following record on \nthe "Minutes:"\xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" I^one of the preachers in America to reprint any of \nMr. Wesley\'s books without his authority (when it can \nbe gotten), and the consent of their brethren. \n\n" Eobert Williams to sell the books he has already \nprinted, but to print no more, unless under the above \nrestrictions." \n\nElsewhere Dr. Stevens says \xe2\x80\x94 " The allusion to \nEobert Williams and his books, though brief, is full of \nsignificance ;" it foreshadows the " Methodist Book \nConcern," in our times one of the most potent arms of \nthe Church. A contemporary historian says that, \n" previous to the formation of this rule, Eobert Wil- \nliams, one of the preachers, had reprinted many of \nMr. Wesley\'s books, and had spread them through the \ncountry, to the great advantage of religion. The ser- \nmons, which he printed in small pamphlets, had a very \ngood effect, and gave the people great light and under- \n* Jesse Lee. \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST AMERICAN ITINERANT. \n\n\n\n145 \n\n\n\nstanding in the nature of the new birth and in the plan \nof salvation ; and, withal, they opened the way in \nmany places for our preachers to be invited to preach \nwhere they had never been before." Thus it appears, \naccording to Jesse Lee and Dr. Stevens, the germ of \nthe " Eook Concern" also originated with this enter- \nprising Irishman, whose grand fault seems to have \nbeen, that he had his own share of that mental inde- \npendence and enterprise which so many of his country- \nmen want. Such are the scanty traces that I can \ngather of Eobert Williams, the first of the heroic \nband of Itinerants in America, and one of the grandest \nmen Ireland ever gave to American Methodism. His \ngrave is unknown ; but, though no marble tells where \nhe sleeps, Methodism in North Carolina, JSTew England, \nand Virginia, is his monument. Could the first con- \ntribution from the Irish Conference to American \nMethodism have a more appropriate and enduring \nmemorial 1 \n\n\n\nAfter the above appeared in the Irish Evangelist, Dr. Scott \nwrote me a letter, in which he says that he is not altogether \nclear that Williams was of Irish birth, more particularly as he \nis mentioned in Wesley\'s Journal, under date June 29, 1766, as \nhaving preached to some thousands of people in the market- \nplace at Whitehaven ; and, moreover, Jesse Lee says \' \xe2\x96\xa0 that he \nwas an Englishman." I think it likely that he was one of the \nPalatines, as Williams was a prominent name amongst them ; \nor he may have been English or Scotch by birth, or a Welsh- \nman : no one can positively affirm which. But it is certain, \nJesse Lee is in error when he says that he was not a travelling \npreacher at the time of his emigration, and that he arrived after \nK \n\n\n\n146 \n\n\n\nROBERT WILLIAMS, ETC. \n\n\n\nBoardinan and Pilmoor, and was not sent by Mr. "Wesley. So \nfar as our printed " Minutes" can establish a thing of the kind, \n"Williams never had an appointment but in Ireland, prior to his \nemigration ; and was an accredited travelling preacher in con- \nnexion with the Irish Conference of that day. He was sent by \nMr. "Wesley, too, or at least permitted to go ; and hence is \nprinted in the " Minutes" for 1770, for America, with Board- \nman and Pilmoor. If Jesse Lee is wrong in three of his state- \nments concerning "Williams, may he not be wrong also as to his \nbirth ? Perhaps, after all, he may have meant no more than \nthat he was not a native American. Thus thousands of Irish \nand Scotch are denominated English in America now. \n\n\n\nglct^otism m gtarglattir. \n\n\n\n" He lies interred in a small cemetery on the farm on which he died, and \nhis wife, who died a few years subsequently in Baltimore, was also interred \nby his side ; and the only monument which marks the burying-place of this \ncouple, around whom clusters such great historic interest, is a large poplar \ntree which has sprung up between their graves. But the inscription upon \nthe tombstone of Sir Christopher "Wren, the great architect of that magni- \nficent ecclesiastical building, St. Paul\'s Church, London, might with equal \npropriety be placed upon a stone over the grave of Robert Strawbridge : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\' Si qtt^eris monumenttjm \n\nClRCUMSPICE.\' \n\nFor nowhere on this whole continent are there so many living fruits of his \nglorious labours as within sight of that spot. Thus disappears from our \nview this early pioneer of American Methodism ; but not his works. They \nshall never perish, till the heavens are no more." \n\nDr. Coggeshall on Stravjbridge. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII. \n\n\n\nDESCRIPTION OF STRAWBRIDGE\' S BIRTH-PLACE AT DRUMSNA, \nCOUNTY LEITRIM \xe2\x80\x94 WESLEY\'S VISIT TO DRTJMSNA \xe2\x80\x94 MOB IN \nCARRICK-ON-SHANNON IN 1760\xe2\x80\x94 STRAWBRIDGE\'s PERSECUTION \nAND REMOVAL TO SLIGO \xe2\x80\x94 PREACHES IN KILMORE, COUNTY \nCAV AN\xe2\x80\x94 REMOVES TO TANDRAGEE \xe2\x80\x94 MARRIAGE \xe2\x80\x94 TRACES OF \nTHE STRAWBRIDGE FAMILY AT DRUMSNA \xe2\x80\x94 ANNADUFF \xe2\x80\x94 \nEMIGRATES TO MARYLAND, ABOUT 1766 \xe2\x80\x94 THE " LOG MEETING- \nHOUSE" \xe2\x80\x94 PROBABLE DATE WHEN HE COMMENCED HIS LABOURS \nIN AMERICA\xe2\x80\x94 TRACES OF HIS FAMILY \xe2\x80\x94 HIS LABOURS AND \nPOVERTY, AND GREAT SUCCESS \xe2\x80\x94 HIS DEATH AND FUNERAL \n\xe2\x80\x94 ASBURY\'S ANTIPATHY TO HIM \xe2\x80\x94 DEFENCE OF STRAW- \nBRIDGE, AND OBLIGATIONS OF AMERICAN METHODISM TO HIM. \n\n"ROBERT STRAWBRIDGE is another of the \nhistoric names of American Methodism. Like \nEmbury and Robert Williams, he also was from Ire- \nland, and has written his name, with theirs, imperish- \nably upon the great fabric of American Methodism. \nIn this chapter I shall try and give the friendly reader \na brief outline of the history, character, and services of \nthis honoured and devoted man, of whom Ireland has \nno cause to be ashamed. \n\nHe was born at Drummersnave (now called Drumsna), \nnot far from Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim. The \n\n\n\n150 \n\n\n\nROBERT STRAWBRIDGE: \n\n\n\nground occupied by the family homestead is within the \nbounds of the Boyle Circuit, on the Sligo District. \nWhen I made up my mind to reprint this series of \npapers, I resolved to spend a day at Drumsna, visit the \nhomestead where Strawbridge played when a child, and \nconverse with any of the old people who could give \nme any reliable information about himself or his family. \nMy kind friend, John Laird, Esq., of Drumshambo, at \nonce placed himself and his car at my disposal, and we \nvisited every place of interest connected with Straw- \nbridge\'s honoured name, and every person in the entire \nrange of country likely to give us a ray of light on the \nfamily history. \n\nDrumsna is a clean, picturesque, and beautiful little \nvillage on the banks of the Shannon. It has some- \nwhat of an English look, and suggests the idea of having \nseen better days. Its present inhabitants are principally \nPapists, which will explain its deteriorated appear- \nance. The Strawbridge family had a noble farm within \na short distance of the village, and lived in considerable \ncomfort, if not affluence. A famous spa well was on \ntheir property, which attracted visitors from all parts \nof the land. The house is totally destroyed, but its \nsite can be distinctly traced, and also that of the \nkitchen garden. The noble elm trees are still standing, \nunimpaired by age, which surrounded the beautiful \nhomestead which gave birth to Eobert Strawbridge, \n" the apostle of Methodism" in Maryland and Balti- \nmore. The prospect from the door and windows was \nuncommonly fine. I venture to say that a more charm- \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN MARYLAND. \n\n\n\n151 \n\n\n\ning site for a house could not be found in Ireland. \nThe house stood on a gentle eminence, in a spacious \nlawn of the richest emerald hue, which inclined grace- \nfully towards the Shannon, a beautiful arm of which \ncame right to its foot, forming a magnificent lake before \nthe door. Away in the distance may be seen the rich, \nserpentine windings of the noble Shannon as it rolls \nproudly in its course, its bosom dotted with many a \nlittle island of surpassing beauty. All around lie the \nLeitrim mountains, reminding one of the stability \nwhich sustains the surrounding loveliness. Here \nRobert Strawbridge was born ! On this very land- \nscape his childish eyes gazed more than a hundred and \ntwenty years ago ! I have seen nothing like it since I \nstood at Derrynane, the once beautiful home of Ireland\'s \n" Liberator," so famous in days of yore. \n\nMr. Wesley frequently visited Drumsna, and has \nrecorded his impressions of it more than once. As early \nas May 25, 1758, he writes \xe2\x80\x94 "I preached at Cleghill \nabout one, and then rode on to Drummersnave (Drum- \nsna) \xe2\x80\x94 wood, water, fruitful land, and gently-rising \nhills, contribute to make this place a little paradise. \nMr. Campbell, the proprietor of the whole, resolved to \nmake it such; so he planted groves, laid out walks, \nformed the plan of a new town, with a barrack at one \nend, and his own seat at the other. But alas ! death \nstepped in between, and all his plans fell to the ground. \nI lodged at the only \'gentleman\'s house in the town, \nwhose wife adorns the gospel."* \n\n* Wesley\'s Journal, II. 426. \n\n\n\n152 \n\n\n\nROBERT STRAWBRIDGE : \n\n\n\nThis extract proves that even at this early date, \nMethodism was not unknown at Drumsna. \n\nIn June, 1760, on the occasion of Wesley\'s next visit \nto Ireland, he writes \xe2\x80\x94 "I rode to Drunimersnave \n(Drumsna), a village delightfully situated. Almost the \nwhole town, Protestants and Papists, were present at \nthe sermon in the evening, and a great part of them in \nthe morning; hut oh, how few of them will bear fruit to \nperfection!"* \n\nIn the case of Strawbridge, we have little or no re- \nliable dates, and no documents illustrative of his life \nprevious to his emigration. We can only then spell \nout our way as best we can by comparing one date with \nanother, and can only hope to be proximately correct. \nI think it very likely that he heard Wesley on this \noccasion, and that his religious impressions may be \ntraced to this visit. Suppose we start from this period \nand try to trace the story of his life. \n\nThere was a peculiarly intense feeling against Metho- \ndism very early exhibited in and around Longford, \nCarrick-on-Shannon, and the neighbourhood. Wesley, \nwho generally speaks of the Irish as " the kindest and \nmost polite people he ever met with," pays the people \nabout this district of country the unenviable compliment \nof being " the rudest, surliest, wildest people that he had \nfound since he came into the kingdom."t \n\nOn the occasion of his present visit, he relates the fol- \nlowing circumstance as having occurred at Carrick-on- \n\n* "Wesley\'s Journal, III. 6. - \nt Ibid, II. p. 423. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN MAEYLAND. \n\n\n\n153 \n\n\n\nShannon, which. I may transcribe as illustrative of the \npopular feeling against Methodism in the neighbour- \nhood at this period \xe2\x80\x94 "At noon, William Ley, James \nGlassbrook, and I rode to Carrick-upon-Shannon. In \nless than an hour an Esquire and Justice of the Peace \ncame down with a drum, and what mob he could gather. \nI went into the garden with the congregation, while he \nwas making a speech to his followers in the street. He \nthen attacked William Ley (who stood at the door), \nbeing armed with an halbert and long sword, then \nstruck at him, and broke it short upon his wrist. Hav- \ning made his way through the house to the other door, \nhe was at a full stop. J ames Glassbrook held it fast \non the other side. While he was endeavouring to force \nit open, one told him I was preaching in the garden. \nOn this he quitted the door in haste, ran round the \ngarden, and with part of his retinue, climbed over the \nwall into the garden, and with a whole volley of oaths \nand curses, declared \'You shall not preach here to-day.\' \nI told him \'Sir, I do not intend it; for I have preached \nalready.\' This made him ready to tear the ground, \nrinding he was not to be reasoned with, I went into \nthe house. Soon after he revenged himself on James \nGlassbrook (by breaking the truncheon of his halbert \non his arm), and on my hat, which he beat and kicked \nmost violently j but a gentleman rescued it out of his \nhands, and we rode quietly out of the town."* \n\nSuch being the state of feeling about this neighbour- \nhood, we shall not be surprised to find that shortly after \n* Wesley\'s Journal, III. 6. 1760. \n\n\n\n154 \n\n\n\nROBERT STRAWBRIDGE: \n\n\n\nStrawbridge embraced Methodism, he encountered vio- \nlent persecution from his neighbours and immediate \nfriends, so that he was obliged to leave Drumsna, and \ntake refuge in Sligo, where he joined the Society, and \nwhere he manifested much of that zeal which afterwards \ndistinguished him. I suppose him to have found a \nhome in Sligo about the year 1761. The next glimpse \nwe get of him is in the County Cavan, where we hear \nof his having frequently preached at Kilmore, and where \nsome of those now "fallen asleep" were accustomed to \nspeak of him as a man of devoted piety and consider- \nable preaching abilities. One aged saint from this loca- \nlity frequently spoke in high terms of his preaching \nand labours, to my friend John Shillington, Esq., of \nPortadown, and uniformly referred to him with feelings \nof peculiar pleasure. About the year 1763, or 1764, he \nremoved to Tandragee, where he was employed for some \ntime in erecting some buildings convenient to the town. \nHe made Terryhugan, which Wesley denominates " the \nMother Church of these parts," his head-quarters, and \nresided in an humble cottage amongst the hearty Wes- \nleyans of this favoured locality. From Terryhugan, as \na centre, he itinerated through the neighbouring country, \nwhere his labours were highly prized, and where his \nname and memory were cherished by all who knew him. \nAbout the year 1764, or 1765, he married one of the \nworthy, devoted Wesleyans of Terryhugan \xe2\x80\x94 a Miss Piper \n\xe2\x80\x94 and shortly after, probably in 1766, with his young \nwife, bid farewell to Ireland, to find, like Embury and \nWilliams, his life-work and his final resting-place in the \n"New World. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN MARYLAND. \n\n\n\n155 \n\n\n\nI found no one in Drumsna who had ever even heard \nof Eobert. I ascertained that his father\'s name was also \nEobert, and I presume that Eobert, of American fame, \nwas his eldest son, who was driven by persecution from \nthe family homestead. He had a brother, Gilbert \nStrawbridge, known in Drumsna by the cognomen, \n" Gibby," who succeeded to the family property. I \nmet two or three fine old men \xe2\x80\x94 one ninety-six years of \nage \xe2\x80\x94 who remembered " Gibby" well. He is probably \nfrom forty to fifty years dead. He had an uncle, \n"Linny" Strawbridge, who was a bachelor, and lived \nto venerable age ; of him also I found very distinct \ntraces. " Gibby" had a large family of sons : John, \nEobert, Lovejoy, and " Gibby," jun., are very distinctly \nremembered by several to whom I spoke. On the \ndeath of old " Gibby," John succeeded to the family \nproperty. He and his family seem to have been \nungodly and most unfortunate. The family property \nhas long since passed from their hands, and not one of \nthe name is now to be found in the entire country ! \nThe last of whom I. could obtain any trace was Andrew, \na son of John\'s, who, a few years ago, opened a small \npublic-house at Jamestown, about a mile from Drumsna. \nHe soon failed, and, like the other members of his \nfamily, found a home in the far West. \n\nAnnaduff, the interesting little parish church where \nEobert worshipped when a child, and where his ances- \ntors sleep, is still standing, richly covered with the \nmost luxuriant ivy \xe2\x80\x94 an impressive and suggestive \nmemorial of the past. I examined the grave-yard as \nthoroughly as time would permit, but many of the \n\n\n\n156 \n\n\n\nROBERT STRAWBRIDGE: \n\n\n\nstones have already mouldered ; many others are \nbroken; and the remainder either hopelessly defaced \nby the hand of time or so encrusted with moss as to be \nutterly illegible. \n\nStrawbridge emigrated to America about the year \n1766,* and ultimately settled at Sam\'s Creek, Frederic \nCounty, Maryland. He left Ireland with a view to \nimprove his financial circumstances ; but in this he \nseems to have failed, as he lived and died poor. Dr. \nStevens says that " he was generous, energetic, fiery, \nversatile ; somewhat intractable to authority, and pro- \nbably improvident. In his various migrations he never \nbettered his temporal fortunes ; but he never lost the \nwarmth or buoyancy of his religious spirit." Sam\'s \nCreek was then a backwoods settlement, the entire dis- \ntrict having been but recently reclaimed. Yet even \nhere Strawbridge speedily opened his house for preach- \ning, and not long after constructed the famous " Log \nMeeting-house" \xe2\x80\x94 the first Methodist chapel in Mary- \nland \xe2\x80\x94 about a mile from his own house. It was a \nsmall, rude structure, twenty-two feet square, without \nwindows, door, or regular floor. " The logs were sawed \non one side for a doorway, and holes were made on the \nother three sides for windows. In this primitive \n\n* Of course I do not give these figures dogmatically, but \nmerely as the nearest approach I can make to the true date. I \nam aware that many high authorities on the other side of the \nAtlantic have claimed a much earlier date for Strawbridge, and \nMethodism in Maryland. I have read all the documents by \nDr. Roberts, Dr. Hamilton, &c, and have seen no proof, as yet, \nthat Strawbridge left Ireland before 1766. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN MAEYLAND. \n\n\n\n157 \n\n\n\nchapel Strawbridge ministered the Word of life, Sab- \nbath, after Sabbath, for many years, itinerating through \nthe week through Eastern Maryland, Delaware, Pennsyl- \nvania, and Virginia." " The Sam\'s Creek Society, con- \nsisting at first of but twelve or fifteen persons, was a \nfountain of good influence to the country and the State. \nIt early gave four or five preachers to the Itinerancy. \nStrawbridge founded Methodism "in Baltimore and \nHarford Counties. The first Society in the former was \nformed by him at the house of Daniel (David 1) Evans, \nnear the city, and the first chapel of the county was \nerected by it. The first native Methodist preacher of \nthe Continent, Eichard Owen,* was one of his converts \nin this country \xe2\x80\x94 a man who laboured faithfully aDd \nsuccessfully as a Local Preacher for some years, and \nwho entered the Itinerancy at last, and died in it."f It \nis, on the date of this society, formed by Strawbridge, \nat David Evans\'s, near Baltimore, that the claim of \nMaryland Methodism rests, as to its being the first \nMethodist Society in America. According to Dr. \nHamilton, David Evans said that, " about the year \n1764, he embraced the Methodist religion under Mr. \nStrawbridge;" and this is about the entire amount of \nevidence in proof of the Maryland case and Eobert \nStrawbridge, as compared with New York and Philip \nEmbury. In the case of New York and Embury, we \nhave documentary evidence that the Society was formed \n\n* He is called in the majority of American books, " Owens." \n"Watters was the first native Itinerant \n\nf Dr. Stevens\'s History of the M. E. Church, I. 72. \n\n\n\n158 \n\n\n\nROBERT STRAWBRIDGE: \n\n\n\nin 1766. About this there can be no dispute \xe2\x80\x94 while, \nin relation to Maryland and Strawbridge, we have no \ndocuments whatever that can be called reliable ; and I \nthink it is impossible to prove that Strawbridge left \nIreland before 1766. The New York case can be most \nconclusively made out ; and there is positive proof that \nMethodism was introduced by Strawbridge into Mary- \nland about the same time, or shortly after. But I, for \none, could not receive the unsupported testimony of an \nold man, who said that, " about the year 1764, he \nembraced the Methodist religion under Mr. Straw- \nbridge," as proof that Methodism was known in Mary- \nland before it was known in ~New York. It is more \nthan probable that this 1764 was 1767 or 1768, as the \nphrase " about the year 1764" may include a period of \nthree or four years.* \n\nAn old lady, connected with the Evans family, gave \nDr. Hamilton some interesting particulars concerning \nStrawbridge. " She remembers Strawbridge. He was \nof medium size, dark complexion, black hair, had a very \nsweet voice, and was an excellent singer. He came to \nthis country with his wife, nephew, and niece. Our \n\n* As an illustration of the amount of importance to be \nattached to an old man\'s memory of the precise date of an \noccurrence, I may mention the following : \xe2\x80\x94 I met three old men \nat Drumsna, aged, respectively, seventy-five, eighty-five, and \nninety-six, who were in full possession of all their faculties. \nEach knew "Gibby" Strawbridge, Eobert\'s brother, well; but \none of them thought that he was about thirty years dead ; the \nsecond said from forty to fifty ; and the third thought that he \nwas at least sixty years dead. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN MARYLAND. \n\n\n\n159 \n\n\n\ninformant states, also, that Mr. Strawbridge had six \nchildren \xe2\x80\x94 Kobert, George, Theophilus, Jesse, Betsey, and \nJane. George died, and also two of the other children, \nwho were buried under the pulpit of the \' Log Meeting- \nhouse.\' George (Eobert?) and Jesse grew up and became \ncarpenters. Mrs. Strawbridge died in Baltimore. Dur- \ning his life Mr. Strawbridge was poor, and the family \nwere often straitened for food; but he was a man of \nstrong faith, and would say to his family on leaving \nthem, \'Meat will be sent here to-day.\'"* \n\nDr. Hamilton continues \xe2\x80\x94 " The calls upon Mr. Straw- \nbridge to go to distant parts of the country to preach, \nbecame, in course of time, so frequent and pressing that \nhis family were likely to suffer in his absence, so that \nit became a question with him, \' Who will keep the wolf \xe2\x80\xa2 \nfrom my door while I am abroad looking after the lost \nsheep V Meanwhile, his friendly neighbours agreed to \ncultivate his little farm without charge, and to see that \nhis wife and children wanted for nothing during his \nabsence. In this way this zealous servant of Christ \ncontinued to labour in different parts of Frederic, and \nthroughout the length and breadth of Baltimore County, \nbreaking up new ground, forming new societies, and \nestablishing permanent places for preaching \xe2\x80\x94 God work- \ning through him by the word which he preached. It \nis delightful to look back, after a lapse of ninety years \nand upwards, and recount one by one the long list of \nthose who could claim this primitive missionary as the \n\n* Dr. Hamilton\'s Discourse on Early Methodism in Maryland, \nespecially in Baltimore. 1856. \n\n\n\n160 \n\n\n\nROBERT STRAWBRIDGE : \n\n\n\ninstrument of their salvation, many of them persons of \nintelligence and of influence in the communities in which \nthey lived, joining themselves first to Christ, and then \ndevoting their substance to build up a godly seed for \ngenerations following, and of these we recur with no \nordinary feelings o satisfaction to the sainted parents of \nthe late distinguished and able editor of the Christian \nAdvocate and Journal, Dr. Bond." \n\nDr. Stevens says \xe2\x80\x94 "Several preachers were rapidly \nraised up by Strawbridge in his travels in Baltimore \nand Harford Counties : Sater Stephenson, Nathan \nPerigo, Richard Webster and others, and many laymen, \nwhose families have been identified with the whole sub- \nsequent progress of Methodism in their respective loca- \nlities, if not in the nation generally. We have frequent \nintimations of Strawbridge\'s labours and successes in \nthe early biographies of Methodism, but they are too \nvague to admit of any consecutive narration of his use- \nful career. We discover him now penetrating into \nPennsylvania,* and then arousing the population of the \nEastern shore of Maryland ; now bearing the standard \ninto Baltimore, and there, with Owen, planting it \nsuccessfully in Georgetown, on the Potomac, and in \nother places in Fairfax County, Virginia \xe2\x96\xa0 and by the \ntime that the regular Itinerancy comes effectually into \noperation in Maryland, a band of preachers, headed by \n\n* Dr. Stevens says in a note, that Henry Boehm heard Straw- \nbridge preach at his father\'s, in Lancaster County, about 1799. \nI suppose this to be a misprint for 1779, as Stravrbridge died \nin 1781. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN MARYLAND. \n\n\n\n161 \n\n\n\nsuch, men as Watters, Gatch, Bowham, Haggerty, Dur- \nbin, Garrettson, seem to have been prepared, directly or \nindirectly through his instrumentality, for the more \nmethodical prosecution of the great cause. At last we \nfind his own name in the Minutes (in 1773 and 1775), \nas an Itinerant. But it disappears unaccountably. It \nis probable that his Irish spirit could not brook the stern \nauthority of Asbury and his British associates, especially \nthe requirement which they and their party so stoutly \nenforced, that the administration of the sacraments by \nMethodist preachers should be suspended. The Revo- \nlution, as we shall hereafter see, not only dissolved the \nEnglish State Church in America, but drove out of the \ncountry most of the Anglican clergy; the Methodists, \nwho had resorted to their churches for the sacraments, \nwere therefore left without these means of grace. For \nmonths, and even years, many societies were destitute \nof them. A considerable party of the Preachers under- \ntook to supply them, and a schism was imminent in the \ndenomination. The Conference of 1773, unable to \ndeter Strawbridge from a course which seemed to him \njustified by the clearest expediency, if not by moral \nnecessity, allowed him to persist if he would do so under \nthe direction of Eankin, Wesley\'s \'assistant,\' and \npractically the \'Superintendent\' of the Church; but \nStrawbridge declined this restriction. He seems to have \nbecome settled as Preacher to the Sam\'s Creek and Brush. \nForest Societies, the later being in Harford County, and \nits chapel the second built in Maryland. We trace him \nat last to the upper part of Long Green, Baltimore \n\nL \n\n\n\n162 \n\n\n\nROBERT STRAWBRIDGE: \n\n\n\ncounty, where an opulent and generous public citizen,* \nwho admired his character and sympathized with his \npoverty, gave him a farm, free of rent for life. It was \nwhile residing here, \' under the shadow of Hampton,\' \nhis benefactor\'s mansion, that, in \' one of his visiting \nrounds to his spiritual children, he was taken sick at \nthe house of Joseph Wheeler, and died in great peace,\' \nprobably in the summer of 1781. Owen preached his \nfuneral sermon in the open air, to a great throng, \'under \na tree at the north-west corner of the house.\' Among \nthe concourse were a number of his old Christian \nneighbours, worshippers in the \' Log Chapel,\' to whom \nhe had been a Pastor in the wilderness. They bore \n\n*Dr. Hamilton, in his Discourse, tells us that this gentle- \nman\'s name was Captain Charles Eidgely, "by whom Straw- \nbridge was greatly esteemed, and who often attended his preach- \ning. " He also gives the hymn they sung as his spiritual children \nlaid the noble emigrant from the banks of the Shannon to sleep. \nIt was No. 48 of our Hymn Book : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" How blest is our brother, bereft \nOf all that could burden his mind ! \nHow easy the soul that has left \nThe wearisome body behind !" &c. \n\nDr. Hamilton adds, " His grave, and also the grave of Mrs. \nStrawbridge, are in the small burying-ground in the orchard, \nsouth of the house, perhaps some hundred yards. The graves \nare together, about the centre of the ground, and as if Nature \nwere reproving the neglect of the Church, she has raised up a \nlarge poplar tree between them as a living monument of their \nworth. Standing on the spot, and looking southward a \ndistance of six or seven miles, the eye rests on Baltimore." \xe2\x80\x94 \nDiscourse, &c. \n\n\n\nf \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN MARYLAND. \n\n\n\n163 \n\n\n\nhim to the tomb, singing as they marched one of those \nrapturous lyrics with which Charles Wesley taught the \nprimitive Methodists to triumph over the grave. He \nsleeps in an orchard of the friend at whose house he \ndied \xe2\x80\x94 one of his own converts \xe2\x80\x94 under a tree, from the \nfoot of which can be seen the great city which claims \nhim as its Methodistic apostle, and which, ever since his \nday, has been pre-eminent among American communi- \nties for its Methodistic strength and zeal."* \n\nI have read everything in relation to Strawbridge\'s \nlabours in America on which I could lay my hand, and \nmost cordially endorse Dr. Stevens\'s statement \xe2\x80\x94 " The \nscattered allusions to Strawbridge in our early records \nare nearly all favourable to his Christian character, his \napostolic zeal, his tireless labours, his self-sacrifice, his \nhearty Irish fervour." In fact, I know nothing that \ncalls for the slightest explanation in the career of this \nnoble pioneer of American Methodism but one point \xe2\x80\x94 \nAsbury\'s decided antipathy to him. On this matter I \nmust say a few words, more particularly as I believe \nStrawbridge to have been right, and believe also that \nAmerican Methodism owes the sturdy Irishman not a \nlittle for the stand which he made against the British \nrule which deprived all our Churches in America of the \nsacraments from the hands of the men who instru- \nmentally won them to Christ. \n\nStrawbridge had been trained in Irish Methodism, \nand, like the majority of Irish Methodists, had but \nlittle sympathy with the State Church. He believed a \n* Stevens\'s History of the M. E. Church, I. 76-78. \n\n\n\n164 ROBERT strawbridge: \n\nJL \n\nMethodist minister was, in the New Testament sense, \na minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, and, consequently, \nfully qualified to administer the sacraments to those \nwho placed themselves under his care. He could see \nno reason why a good card-player, or fox-hunter, who, \nperhaps, was half his time drunk, should be, when epis- \ncopally ordained, by virtue of such ordination, authorized \nto administer the sacraments, while the same right was \ndenied to him and to his brethren who had won wan- \ndering men in thousands to Christ. Eight or wrong, he \noccupied, more than ninety years ago, substantially the \nground we occupy now in Ireland, in Great Britain, \nand in America. Hence, he travelled through the \ncountry, forming Societies wherever he could, and re- \njoiced in apostolic success. Fully one-half the Metho-. \ndists in America in his day were in Maryland, and two- \nthirds of them between Maryland and Virginia, where \nhimself and Williams, and the evangelists raised up as \nthe direct fruit of their ministry, were the labourers. \nHe baptized the children of his converts, and gave to \nthemselves, in the " Log Meeting-house" and elsewhere, \nthe sacrament of the Lord\'s Supper. He did so, if not \nprior to the arrival of Boardman and Pilmoor, cer- \ntainly, coeval with their arrival. Wesley, whose grand \nweakness all through was his Church of England \ntendencies, endeavoured to force upon American \nMethodism his own peculiar sympathies in favour of \nthat section of the Church, and hence he instructed \nRankin and his other " assistants" in America not to \nbaptize or administer the Lord\'s Supper in the Societies \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN MARYLAND. 165 \n\non any account, but to send all their converts to the \nministers of the State Church, many of whom, as in \nEngland and Ireland, were notoriously wicked. We \nshould find it difficult to believe such a marvellous fact \nbut that the evidence is palpable as the sun light. \nThe following extracts from the "Minutes" of the \nAmerican Conference put the matter beyond dispute : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" 1. Every preacher, who acts in connexion with \nMr. Wesley and the brethren who labour in America, \nis strictly to avoid administering the ordinances of \nbaptism and the Lord\'s Supper. \n\n" 2. All the people among whom we labour to be \nearnestly exhorted to attend the Church, and to receive \nthe ordinances there ; but in a particular manner to \npress the people in Maryland and Virginia to the \nobservance of this Minute?* \n\nAsbury and all the men trained in England went \nwith Wesley\'s view, and encouraged and advocated in \nAmerica this humble submission on the part of the \nMethodists to the State Church, to which they were \ntrained in England. But Strawbridge was inflexible \non the other side. He contended sturdily in the Con- \nference for the right of our Churches to the sacraments \nfrom the hands of their own ministry, and for the \nright of the ministers to administer them, and refused \nto be deterred by either Asbury or Eankin from acting \nin harmony with his conscientious convictions. \n\n* Minutes of the Annual Conference of the M. E. Church, I. \np. 5. New York, 1840. The italics are mine. \n\n\n\n166 \n\n\n\nROBERT STRAWBRIDGE: \n\n\n\nA serious conflict ensued in the Conference ; the \nabove resolutions were made absolute, with a conces- \nsion in favour of the veteran evangelist, as appears from \nAsbury\' s Journal, to the following effect : \xe2\x80\x94 " That no \npreacher in our Connexion shall be permitted to \nadminister the ordinances, except Mr. Strawbridge, \nand he under the particular direction of the assistant " \n(Eankin.) Dr. Stevens says, " A concession so singular \nshows the extraordinary consideration in which Straw- \nbridge was held, the influence he had obtained over the \nSocieties in Maryland and Virginia, perhaps also the \nconscious necessity of the independent administration \nof the sacraments in that chief field of the denomina- \ntion." But great as was this concession, it did not meet \nStrawbridge\'s view. Asbury says, " I read a part of \nour "Minutes," to see if Brother Strawbridge would \nconform, but he appeared to be inflexible. He would \nnot administer the ordinances under our direction at \nall." Ultimately the name of the headstrong evangelist \nwas dropped from the "Minutes," but to the end of \nhis life he held on the same course. The subject came \nup again and again, and led to increasing contention, \nand " at last," says the historian of American Method- \nism, " providentially gave birth to the organization of \nthe \' Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States \nof America.\'" Does it not appear that the inflexible \nresolution of this Irish evangelist, which so exasperated \nAsbury, arose from a keener and deeper insight into the \nwants and noble future of American Methodism than \nAsbury or any of his countrymen had ? And would \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN MARYLAND. \n\n\n\n167 \n\n\n\nnot Methodism in Maryland and in the United States \nbe a different thing to-day but for Eobert Straw- \nbridge\'s sturdy principle, and his Methodist training in \nIreland 1 \n\n" Asbury\'s prejudice against Strawbridge for his \nHibernian independence in the sacramental controversy \ncontinued to the last. \' He is no more/ wrote the great \nbut rigorous bishop, \' he is no more ; upon the whole, \nI am inclined to think the Lord took him away in \njudgment, because he was in a way to do hurt to his \ncause, and that he saved him in mercy because from his \ndeath-bed conversation he appears to have had hope in \nhis end. Owen, who knew him better, and loved him \nas a son, had no such equivocal opinion of his end. \nHe proclaimed, as his text, over the coffin of the devoted, \nthough headstrong evangelist, \'I heard a voice from \nheaven saying unto me, Write: Blessed are the dead \nwhich die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the \nSpirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their \nworks do follow them.\'"* Asbury and Straw^bridge have \nlong since met in the spirit-land, where there is no con- \nflict of opinion; and the worthy Bishop lived to see the \nentire Church come round to the headstrong Irishman\'s \nview, himself being amongst the most prominent ad- \nvocates of the change. \n\n\n\nThe following extract from a letter to my friend, the \nEev. Dr. Scott, by the Bev. Dr. Hamilton, of Balti- \n\n* Stevens\'s History of the M. E. Church, I. 79. \n\n\n\n168 \n\n\n\nROBERT STRAWBRIDGE: \n\n\n\nmore, is of great value, as illustrating the connexion \nbetween Irish and American Methodism in Baltimore : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" There are two names connected with early Methodism in \nBaltimore which I ought to mention \xe2\x80\x94 "William Hawkins and \nJames M \'Cannon \xe2\x80\x94 both class-leaders, and appointed by Bishop \nAsbnry on his first visit to our city. They were from Ireland, \nand men of great influence in their day. Another, Edward \nDrumgoole,* who joined the Conference in the year 1774, and \nlaboured in Baltimore Circuit with George Shadford and \nRobert Lindsay, also an Irishman. + Mr. Drumgoole having \nmarried, took a location in 1776, and settled in Brunswick \nCounty, Ya., where he raised a family of children, one of \nwhom, the Hon. Edward Drumgoole, became a distinguished \nlawyer, and was a member of the United States Congress for \nyears. Michael Laird joined the Conference held in Balti- \nmore, May the 8th, 1786. He was from the same town \n(Drumsna) with Strawbridge, and his parents were amongst the \nearliest converts to Methodism in that part of Ireland, and his \nfather was a class-leader for many years. John Ragan, a native \nof Ireland. He came to America soon after the peace of 1783, \nand travelled as an Itinerant preacher for eight years, mostly in \nMaryland, Nova Scotia, and New Jersey. Lasley Mathews \xe2\x80\x94 \na remarkable man. He was from Ireland, and of Roman \nCatholic parents. He joined the Baltimore Conference in 1786, \nand died 24th of March, 1813. His last words were\xe2\x80\x94 \' Glory ! \nPraise Him ! My Jesus, come ! \' Andrew Hemphill, another \n\n* Drumgoole was converted from Popery in Ireland in 1770, and, on \ncoming to Baltimore, brought a letter to his countryman, Strawbridge, \nannouncing the fact of his having read his recantation in Ireland. He was \nprobably from about Drumsna.\xe2\x80\x94 (W. C.) \n\nt Lindsay, on his return from America, travelled ten years in Ireland, \nand ultimately settled in the East Indies. I have a letter in my possession \nin which the writer states that he met a class and preached in India, and \nthat his correspondence with Dr. Coke led to the establishment of our \nmissions in the Bast Indies. \xe2\x80\x94 (W. C.) \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN MARYLAND. \n\n\n\n169 \n\n\n\nglorious Irish Methodist preacher, never to be forgotten by the \nBaltimore Conference. And last, but not least, William \nKyland, a man of mark and might. Mr. Kyland came to this \ncountry a Local Preacher, and united with the Baltimore Con- \nference in 1802. No man of his time occupied a larger space \nin public estimation as a preacher. Mr. Pinkney, Attorney- \nGeneral of the United States, and for a time Minister to the \nCourt of St. Petersburgh, looked upon him as the most impres- \nsive and eloquent man he had ever heard preach. Mr. Eyland \nwas often chosen Chaplain to Congress, and received from the \nPresident of the United States (General Jackson) the appoint- \nment of Chaplain to the Navy, which office he continued to \nhold to the time of his death. In looking over the Minutes \nof Conference for 1791-92, I find the names of Michael Laird \nand John S imm ons put down for Bath Circuit, Ya., and in \n1792, this Minute : \xe2\x80\x94 \' Who are under a location through weak- \nness of body or family concerns ? Answer \xe2\x80\x94 Michael Laird.\' \nThis is the last we hear of this excellent man as an Itinerant \npreacher ; but a nephew, Mr. Michael Laird, who is still alive \nand residing in Philadelphia (1859), writes me that his uncle \ncontinued to hold on his way as a faithful Christian and useful \nLocal Preacher until the time of his death. \n\n" Thus, my dear brother, I have given you a few facts in refer- \nence to the men who came to us in our infancy from old Ire- \nland \xe2\x80\x94 the land of my own dear Father and Mother \n\nIt is but simple justice to say that, from the rise of Methodism \nin Baltimore to the present time, a considerable proportion of \nour most pious and useful members have been Irishmen. \nWilliam Hawkins and James M \'Cannon were the first class- \nleaders in Baltimore. The Kelsos, three brothers ; the Arm- \nstrongs, Eobert and Thomas, still living (1859) ; the Buckles, \ntwo brothers ; James Morrison, Alexander Bussell \xe2\x80\x94 of precious \nmemory \xe2\x80\x94 and many others of equal worth now in our midst, or \ngone to their final reward in heaven." \n\n\n\n1% \n\n&uijarb Boarirmait \n\n\n\n" Richard Boardman, a pious, good-natured, sensible man, greatly \nbeloved of all that knew him. He was one of the two first that freely \noffered themselves to the services of our brethTen in America. He died of \nan apoplectic fit, and preached the night before his death. It seems he \nmight have been eminently useful ; but good is the will of the Lord." \xe2\x80\x94 \nJohn Wesley, in the " Minutes" for 1783. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX. \n\n\n\nLEEDS CONFERENCE OF 1769, AND APPOINTMENT OF BOARD MAN \nAND PILMOOR\xe2\x80\x94 CONVERSION OF MARY REDFERN \xe2\x80\x94 PERILOUS \nPASSAGE TO AMERICA \xe2\x80\x94 BOARDMAN\'s SERVICES IN AMERICA\xe2\x80\x94 \nRETURNED HOME IN 1774 \xe2\x80\x94 APPOINTED TO LONDONDERRY \xe2\x80\x94 \nHIS SERVICES IN IRELAND \xe2\x80\x94 DEATH IN CORK IN 1782 \xe2\x80\x94 HIS \nTOMB AT ST. FIN BARRE\'s. \n\nTTTESLEY, as we have seen, had received an im- \n\n\n\n" " portant letter from Thomas Taylor in ]N"ew York, \nstating the progress of the infant Church under \nEmbury and Captain Webb, and most earnestly re- \nquesting the appointment of a minister of a suitable \ntype to watch over the little flock. Hp immediately \nresolved on sending one or more at the ensuing English \nConference, and, in the interval, probably wrote to \nHopper, with a view to induce him to undertake the \nsuperintendence of the rising cause in the New World. \nMeantime, Robekt Williams had left Castlebar, and \nwith Wesley\'s concurrence, if not by his formal ap- \npointment, was on his way to that glorious field of \nlabour in which he won unwitheriug honour. The \nConference met in Leeds, on Tuesday, August 1, 1769, \nand in due time Wesley brought forward the American \nclaim, and wished some one or more to volunteer for \nthe arduous enterprise. But all were silent. JSTot one \n\n\n\n\n174 \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARDMAN. \n\n\n\nof the heroic band was prepared to brave the dangers \nof the passage, and the still more formidable discourage- \nments identified with the work itself. Wesley was \nbitterly disappointed, and at five o\'clock on the follow- \ning morning preached before the Conference from the \nwords, " I have nourished and brought up children, \nand they have rebelled against me." At the re- \nassembling of the Conference same day, he again pro- \nposed the question \xe2\x80\x94 " Who is willing to go to assist our \nbrethren in America?" And Kichard Boardman and \nJoseph Pilmoor immediately volunteered.* In the \n" British Minutes" of that year we read as follows : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n"Question 13 \xe2\x80\x94 We have a pressing call from our \nbrethren at New York (who have built a preaching- \nhouse) to come over and help them. Who is willing \nto go 1 Answer \xe2\x80\x94 Richard Boardman and Joseph Pil- \nmoor. \n\n" Question 14 \xe2\x80\x94 What can we do further in token of \nour brotherly love 1 Answer \xe2\x80\x94 Let us now make a col- \nlection among ourselves. (This was immediately done ; \nand out of it \xc2\xa350 were allotted towards the payment of \ntheir debt, and about \xc2\xa320 given to our brethren for \ntheir passage." t) \n\n* Speech of the Rev. Charles Prest at Paris, October, 25, \n1863, as quoted in Stevens\'s History of the M. E. Church, I. 95. \n\nf Minutes of British Conference. New Edit. Vol. I. p. 86. \nIt appears from Wakeley\'s Lost Chapters that a good part of the \n\xc2\xa350 towards the chapel debt was in Wesley\'s Notes and Ser- \nmons, which were sold in New York and Philadelphia on behalf \nof the debt. \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARDMAN. \n\n\n\n175 \n\n\n\nBoardman was now just thirty-one years of age, \nsix of which he had spent amid the toils and triumphs \nof the Itinerancy in England, principally in York- \nshire. He was a good-natured, sensible man, deeply \ndevoted, who was not afraid of hard work ; but \nnot remarkable, like Asbury, for force of character and \ngreat administrative ability. Pilmoor was still younger, \nhaving been but four years in the Itinerancy. They \nsailed from Bristol in August, and, after a most fearful \npassage of nine weeks, during which " it seemed that \nthe wind and waves were swayed by the \' prince of the \npower of the air\' in opposition to a mission so preg- \nnant with moral consequences," arrived at Gloucester \nPoint, south of Philadelphia, October the 24th, 1769. \n\nIn the "Minutes" of 1769, as quoted above, Beard- \nman\'s name stands first, as Wesley\'s " assistant" or \nSuperintendent in America ; but in the following year \nthe appointment reads as follows: \xe2\x80\x94 50. America \xe2\x80\x94 \nJoseph Pilmoor, Eichard Boardman, Eobert Williams, \nJohn King. \n\nWhether this arrangement was accidental or other- \nwise in 1770, it was reversed in 1771, and Boardman \nwas made " assistant," and, in point of fact, was \nWesley\'s first American Superintendent. \n\nIt is singular that, like in the case of Captain Webb \nand Eobert Williams, we have no record of the place \nof his birth, and it will probably remain for ever un- \nknown. Dr. Stevens, whose industry can only be ex- \nceeded by his genius, gives him to Ireland, though on \nwhat authority he does not say, and we question his \n\n\n\n176 \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARDMAN. \n\n\n\naccuracy in this instance. But, be this as it may, wher- \never Boardrnan found a cradle, a large proportion of \nhis life-work and his final resting-place till the morning \nof the resurrection were found in Ireland, and hence \nthis little Book would be most incomplete without \nsome reference to his honoured name. \n\nHe entered the Itinerancy in 1763, and spent the \nintervening time till his appointment to America in \nEngland, where he was eminently devoted, laborious, \nand successful. One circumstance worth narrating \nhere connects his name imperishably with British \nMethodism. While on his way to Bristol to embark \nfor America he spent a night at Monyash, in Derby- \nshire, and preached in an humble Methodist cottage, \nfrom the praver of Jabez (1 Chron. iv., 9, 10). In the \ncongregation was a young woman, Mary Eedfern, who \nwas anxiously seeking the Saviour, and the message \nfrom the lips of the stranger proved balm to her \nwounded spirit. Some years after she married "William \nBunting, a Methodist layman, and in remembrance of \nBoardman\'s sermon gave the name of Jabez Bunting \nto her first-born child \xe2\x80\x94 " a memento of her gratitude, \nand a prophecy of his history." \n\nBoardman\'s name is imperishable also in American \nMethodism. As Wesley\'s first Superintendent in \nAmerica, and the spiritual father of hundreds, he \nitinerated through the entire country around New \nYork and Philadelphia, doing the work of an evangelist \nduring more than four years, until on the breaking out \nof the Eevolutionary war he returned home with \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARD MAN. \n\n\n\n177 \n\n\n\nPilnioor in 1 7 74. A single extract will give the friendly \nreader some idea of the spirit in which Boardman pro- \nsecuted his glorious work: \xe2\x80\x94 "It pleases God to carry \non his work amongst us. Within this month we have \nhad a great awakening here. Many begin to believe \nthe report, and to some the arm of the Lord is revealed. \nThis last month we have had near thirty added to the \nSociety, five of whom have received a clear sense of the \npardoning love of God. We have in this city some of \nthe best preachers (both in. the English and Dutch \nChurches) that are in America. Yet God works by \nwhom he will work. I have lately been much comforted \nby the death of some poor negroes, who have gone off \nthe stage of time rejoicing in the God of their salvation. \nI asked one on the point of death, \' Are you afraid to \ndie V 1 Oh, no,\' said she. \' I have my blessed Saviour \nin my heart. I should be glad to die. I want to be \ngone, that I may be with him for ever. I know that \nhe loves me, and I feel that I love him with all my \nheart.\' She continued to declare the great things \nGod had done for her soul to the astonishment of many, \ntill the Lord took her to himself. Several more seem \njust ready to be gone, longing for the happy time when \nmortality shall be swallowed up of life. I bless God \nI find, in general, my soul happy, though much tried \nand tempted."* \n\nWhen Boardman and Pilmoor saw that war was in- \nevitable, being loyal to the British Government, they \n\n* Letter to Wesley, April, 1771, as published in Stevens\'s \nHistory of M. E. Church, I. p. 104. \nM \n\n\n\n178 \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARD MAN. \n\n\n\nresolved to return home, and left America on Sunday, \nJanuary 2, 1774, " after commending the Americans to \nGod." "They left 2,073 members in the Societies, 10 \nregularly-organized circuits, and 17 preachers."* They \ndo not seem to have been in any particular hurry home, \nas they remained fully six months after the Conference, \nand after Boardman had been appointed superintendent \nof the Londonderry Circuit, t On coming home he \n\n* Dr. Stevens\'s History of M. E. Church, I. p. 166. \n\nt Pilmoor, on leaving America, retired from our work, and in \nthe " Minutes" for 1774 he is said to have " desisted from tra- \nvelling." Butin 1776 we find his name again on the " Minutes," \nand for the ensuing eight years, for various prominent stations \nin England, Scotland, and Ireland. In 1784 it appears for the \nlast time for York, and disappears without note from the \n"Minutes" for 1785. Wesley had executed the "Deed of \nDeclaration," in February, 1784 ; he was offended at the omis- \nsion of his name, left, and joined the Established Church. He \nsubsequently returned to America, and became Eector of Ann \nStreet Church, New York, and subsequently of St. Paul\'s \nChurch, Philadelphia. He became a Doctor of Divinity, and \ndied in a green old age, greatly respected. He had a great love \nfor Methodism to the last, and often gave his pulpit to Asbury, \nCoke, and others of his old friends, and to the end of his life \nsubscribed to the Old Preachers\' Fund. At the Conference of \n1804, in old John Street Church, New York, a tall, fine-looking, \ndignified old gentleman came into the house, and walked to \nwhere Bishop Asbury was sitting. Asbury arose, shook hands \nwith him, and then, in his own way, said, as he introduced him \nto the Conference, "This is Brother Pilmoor, who used to \npreach in this pulpit under the direction of Mr. John "Wesley."* \nMr. Pilmoor seemed a little embarrassed, and bowed respect- \n\n\n\n* Wakeley. \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARDMAN. \n\n\n\n179 \n\n\n\nwent to his circuit at Londonderry, and at the Con- \nference of 1775 was re-appointed to the same field of \nlabour. The years 1776 and 1777 were spent in Cork ; \n1778 and 1779 in Limerick amongst the Palatines ; and \n1780 in London. In 1781 we find him again in \nLimerick, amongst his old friends the Palatines, with \nthe eccentric John Cricket, and at the Conference of \n1782 he was appointed to Cork with Zachariah Yew- \ndall. This proved a final appointment. Within a few \ndays after his arrival in Cork, Wesley\'s first American \n" assistant" finished his course with joy! Though we \nhave no record of his faithful and devoted labours in \nAmerica, and in England, and Ireland, happily we have \nfull and interesting particulars of his death, supplied in \n\nfully, and then paid his annual subscription to the Preachers\' \nFund, and retired. It was a pity he left the Church of his early \nchoice, as he had the heart and soul of a Methodist preacher, \nand much of the fire of the primitive Itinerancy, as the follow- \ning incident of his Methodistic life will prove : \xe2\x80\x94 At Charleston, \nwhile preaching in the theatre, suddenly the table used by him \nfor a pulpit, with the chair he occupied, disappeared through a \ntrap-door into the cellar. Some rude wags, of the baser sort, had \ncontrived the trick as a practical joke. Nothing discouraged, \nhowever, the preacher, springing upon the stage with the table \nin his hands, invited the audience to the adjoining yard, adding, \npleasantly, " Come on my friends, we will, by the grace of God, \ndefeat the devil this time, and not be driven by him from our \nwork," and then quietly finished his discourse.* The last \nglimpse we get of him is in a record in Asbury\'s Journal, dated \nWilmington, Delaware, April 3, 1814: \xe2\x80\x94 "Joseph Pilmoor is \nyet alive, and preaches three times every Sabbath. " \n\n* Stevens\'s History of the M. E. Church, I. p. 108. \n\n\n\n180 \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARDMAN. \n\n\n\npart by Mr. Yewdall, and in part by Mr. Atmore. Mr. \nAtmore says \xe2\x80\x94 " Mr. Boardrnan was greatly beloved and \nuniversally respected by the people wherever his lot was \ncast. His ministerial labours were much owned of \nGod, both in Europe and America. He finished his \ncourse, by an apoplectic fit, at Cork, in Ireland. The \nfollowing are the circumstances which attended the \ndeath of this man of God : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" Sunday, Sept. 29, 1782, Mr. Boardrnan having been \neleven days in Cork, was going out to dinner. As he \nwas walking, he was suddenly struck blind, so that he \ncould not find his way, till one of our friends met him, \nand took him by the hand. Soon after he seemed to \nrecover himself, and sat down to dinner, but quickly \nafter he had a fit, which deprived him both of his \nspeech and understanding. A physician was called in, \nwho apprehended there was no immediate danger. \nMonday he seemed to be perfectly well, and preached \nboth that and the following evening. His mind was \ncalm and serene, and no way anxious about either life \nor death. On Friday morning he was present at the In- \ntercession, and was observed to pray with an uncommon \ndegree of freedom and power. At three o\'clock he \nwent out to dine, but as soon as he came into the house \nhe sank down insensible. He was then conducted back \nin a carriage to his own house, and at about nine o\'clock \nin the evening he expired in the arms of two of his \nbrethren, and in the presence of many of his friends, \nwho commended him to God with sorrowful hearts and \nstreaming eyes. \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARDMAN. \n\n\n\n181 \n\n\n\n"The Sunday before his death he preached from \ni Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.\' It was \na very solemn meeting, and a reverential awe filled the \nhearts of the congregation. In his last prayer at the \nIntercession, on Friday, he prayed fervently for the \npeople, and begged that if this was to be their last \nmeeting on earth they might have a happy meeting in \nthe realms of light. It is remarkable that, when he was \nleaving Limerick, he told Mrs. Boardman that he should \ndie in Cork ! But this was no concern to him, as he \nknew for him to live was Christ, and to die eternal \ngain. To him sudden death was sudden glory !"* \n\nMr. Yewdall\'s account is substantially the same, with \nsome points of additional interest. I give it entire, as \nevery ray of light connected with the heroic Boardman \nin life or death is precious to Irish Methodists. Mr. \nYewdall says : \xe2\x80\x94 " In the month of December (1781) I \nwent to Dublin to assist Mr. Pilmoor (who was then \nSuperintendent.) Here I experienced the most happy \nChristmas-day morning I had ever known. The \nservice began (according to custom) at four o\'clock, and \ncontinued till daylight, in singing, prayer, and exhorta- \ntion. I suppose there were near fourteen hundred \npersons present. After spending above seven weeks in \nthe city among the most friendly, hospitable people I \never knew, I returned to my circuit, where I continued \ntill the Dublin Conference in July, 1782, and was then \nappointed with Mr. Boardman for Cork. \n\n" I got into my circuit the week after the Conference, \n* Atmore\'s Methodist Memorial, p. 58, 59. 1801. \n\n\n\n182 \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARDMAN. \n\n\n\nand was glad to meet with, a friendly people and a large \ncongregation. Mr. Boardman tarried at Limerick till \nthe latter end of September, and then came to Cork, \nwhere he had laboured before, and was universally- \nknown and beloved by the people, who were anxious \nfor his coming, and in great expectation that his \nministry would be successful. On the Sabbath-day \nmorning after his arrival he preached from Job xiii, 15 \n\xe2\x80\x94 \'Though, he slay me, yet will I trust in him,\' but \nwas not able to preach in the evening. The physician \nmade light of the disorder, although there were evident \nsymptoms of an approaching apoplexy, so that no \nmeans were made use of to prevent what soon happened. \nMr. Boardman being something better next day, con- \ntinued to preach every evening as usual till Friday, \nwhen he attended the Intercession at noon.* He was \nobserved to pray with uncommon fervour for the success \nof the Gospel and for his brethren in the ministry. \nAfter the meeting he went to a friend\'s house in the \ncity. As soon as he got there he lost the use of his \nspeech, and with some difficulty was conveyed to his \nlodging in a chaise. From that time he sunk into a \nstate of insensibility, and about nine o\'clock was re- \nleased from all his sufferings, in the forty-fifth year of \nhis age. Mr. Boardman had preached the Gospel with \nmuch success a considerable number of years in various \nparts of Britain, Ireland, and America. He was an ex- \n\n* A special prayer-meeting, held on Friday, at noon, in Cork, \nat that time, and for many years, with reference to the revival \nand progress of religion, and the labours of the coming Sabbath. \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARDMAN. \n\n\n\n183 \n\n\n\ncellent and useful preacher, a kind friend, and of an \namiable, engaging disposition. His life was devoted to \nthe service of God, and employed in promoting the \nsalvation of souls, and he is now reaping the reward of \nhis labours. \n\n" At the time of Mr. Boardman\'s death, I was at \nBandon keeping a watchnight,* but a messenger was \nwaiting next morning at my chamber door with the \nawful tidings. "When I got to Cork I found our friends \ninvolved in sorrow, and lamenting their loss, particularly \nhis widow. They had been married only thirteen \nmonths, and had one [son, who soon after became \nan orphan by the death of his mother. On the Lord\'s \nday, at the request of our friends, I preached Mr. \nBoardman\'s funeral sermon, to a very crowded audience. \nHis remains were placed at the foot of the pulpit, which \nadded to the solemnity of the occasion. In my retire- \nment before preaching, the work I was to enter upon \nseemed too much for my feelings ; but the Lord saw \nmy tears and heard my cries; he lifted me up and \nstrengthened me for the arduous task. Indeed, I have \nno great opinion of the discourse I delivered, but my \naim was to please God and profit the people. Next \nmorning we attended his remains to St. Barry\'s church- \nyard,t singing hymns adapted to the occasion as we \n\n* In early Methodism, a "Watchnight" service was held fre- \nquently during the year, and not exclusively on the last night \nof the year, as in modern times. \n\nf Mr. Boardman is the only one of the noble band connected \nwith the origin and early triumphs of Methodism in America to \nwhom Ireland has had the honour of giving a grave. Embury, \n\n\n\n184 \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARDMAN. \n\n\n\npassed through, the streets, accompanied by a great \nmultitude of serious people."* \n\nHis death was eminently overruled for good. Many \nwho heard his funeral sermon were convinced of sin, \nand within a brief period about two hundred members \nwere added to the church. The ministry of Andrew \nBlair, who succeeded Mr. Eoardman, was remarkably \nowned of God, and before the ensuing Conference the \nChurch at Cork, fired with the primitive Methodist \nzeal, had established Methodism at Youghal, Dunman- \nway, Bantry, and Skibbereen, and rejoiced with the \njoy of harvest. \n\nStrawbridge, and "Williams found a final resting-place, as we \nhave seen, in the United States ; Paul Heck and his noble wife, \nand their children, in Canada ; Bankin and others, with the \nveteran Captain Webb, in England. He lies in the churchyard \nattached to the cathedral of St. Fin Barre (called St. Barry\'s by \nMr. Yewdall), and his grave is an object of considerable interest to \nMethodists from America when visiting Cork. Those who ac- \ncompanied Bishop Simpson and Dr. M\'Clintock to Boardman\'s \ngrave, during the Conference of 1857, will never forget that \nSaturday evening. I trust the plan for the new cathedral will \nnot interfere with the spot where Boardman sleeps, but that his \ngrave will continue to be an object of interest in Cork long as \ntime shall last. Those who are curious as to the history of St. \nFin Barre and the antiquities of the cathedral, will find much \nvaluable information in A Lecture on the History of the Bishops \nof Cork and Cathedral of St. Fin Barre. By Bichard Caulfield, \nB.A. (Cork : Purcell & Co., 1864), which will be read with \ninterest, even by those who entertain widely different opinions \nfrom the writer in relation to Gothic architecture and "foil \nchoral service" as promotive of the life of God in the soul. \n\n\n\n* The Arminian Magazine, 1795, p. 270. \n\n\n\nRICHARD BOARDMAN. \n\n\n\n185 \n\n\n\nThus, in the meridian of his strength and usefulness, \nat the early age of forty-four, Eichard Boardman \npassed from earth to heaven. It is interesting to read \nthat his brave companions sung several of Charles \nWesley\'s noble lyrics through the streets as they ac- \ncompanied the remains of the departed warrior to the \nsolitude of the tomb. Over his remains a plain slab \nhas been placed by the Methodists of that day, with \nthe following inscription : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nMR. RICHARD BOARDMAN \n\nDeparted this Life, October 4, 1782, cetatis 44- \n\nBeneath this stone the dust of Boardman lies, \nHis pious soul has soared above the skies j \n"With eloquence divine he preached the "Word \nTo multitudes, and turned them to the Lord. \nHis bright example strengthened what he taught, \nAnd devils trembled when for Christ he fought ; \nWith truth and Christian zeal he nations fired, \nAnd all who knew him mourned when he expired. \n\n\n\n\n% \n\nIttlani \n\n\xc2\xa9right ri llfcfjm&xsm in Canada. \n\n\n\n" Vast results were to follow ; gigantic labourers to appear in the open- \ning wilderness ; circuits and societies to keep pace with the advancing \nfrontier, and to reach eastward to Quebec ; Indian missions to arise ; \nMethodist chapels, many of them elegant edifices, to dot the country ; a \nBook concern, periodical organ, a University and academies to be provided, \nand Methodism to become numerically the predominant faith of the people, \ncomprising one-fourth of the population" (of Canada). \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Stevens\'s \nWoman of Methodism, p. 197. \n\n\n\nCHAPTEE X. \n\n\n\nmxb tin \n\nOrigin: ai glefljabism hx Caitaim* \n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA, AS IN THE UNITED STATES, THE CHILD \nOF IRISH METHODISM\xe2\x80\x94 FIRST CLASS IN CANADA, AND MRS, \nEMBURY, PAUL AND BARBARA HECK \xe2\x80\x94 GEORGE NEAL, HIS \nCHARACTER AND SERVICES \xe2\x80\x94 JAMES M\'CARTY, HIS CHARACTER \nAND MARTYRDOM \xe2\x80\x94 FATE OF HIS PERSECUTORS \xe2\x80\x94 WILLIAM \nLOSEE \xe2\x80\x94 FIRST METHODIST CHAPEL IN ADOLPHUSTOWN IN \n1792, AND IRISH NAMES AS SUBSCRIBERS \xe2\x80\x94 DEATH OF PAUL \nAND BARBARA HECK \xe2\x80\x94 FAMILIES OF EMBURY AND HECK AND \nCANADIAN METHODISM\xe2\x80\x94 " THE OLD BLUE CHURCH," AUGUSTA, \nAND THE GEAYE OF PAUL AND BARBARA HECK \xe2\x80\x94 CANADIAN \nMETHODISM, AND EMIGRATION FROM IRELAND \xe2\x80\x94 METHODISM \nIN CANADA IN 1866. \n\nTl^ this Chapter I propose briefly to illustrate the \nconnexion between Irish. Methodism and the origin \nof Methodism in Canada. From the preceding Chapters \nthe reader can form some faint conception of the ser- \nvices of Irish Methodism in relation to the origin and \ntriumphs of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the \nUnited States ; but it is not so generally known that \nthe Methodist Church in Canada is also the child of \nIrish Methodism, and identified with the " old country" \njust as closely and as imperishably as the Methodist \n\n\n\n190 IRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\nEpiscopal Church of the United States. It would \nrequire a considerable volume to trace the influence of \nIrish Methodism in Methodism in Canada from its \norigin to the present day ; and such a volume could \nonly be exceeded in interest by a similar volume illus- \ntrative of the same idea in relation to Episcopal \nMethodism in the States. A book worthy of the sub- \nject could not possibly be written by any one on our \nside of the Atlantic, or by any one on the American \nside without vast labour ; but would not the result \nmore than compensate for the labour % Perhaps we \nshall have such a book by-and-by, both from the States \nand Canada, as one of the results of the present Cen- \ntenary celebration. The study is one of great interest, \nas illustrative of the providence of God. How little \neven those who have studied the subject know of the \ngerminant power and far-reaching influence of Irish \nMethodism ! \n\nFrench Canada was conquered by the British, under \nGeneral Wolfe, in 1759, just twelve months before \nEmbury\'s emigration to New York. The conquest was \nratified by treaty in 1763, and, from that period till the \npresent, Canada has been an important and growing \nportion of the Colonial empire of Britain. We have \nseen that God in His providence overruled the emigra- \ntion of Embury and Barbara Heck from Ireland, to the \norigination of Methodism in the States in 1766, and \nwe trace the same guiding Hand in connexion with the \nsame honoured names in the origin of Methodism in \nCanada. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA. \n\n\n\n191 \n\n\n\nAfter Embury\'s death in 1773, his widow married \nJohn Lawrence, from Ireland, and, on the breaking out \nof the Revolutionary war shortly after, with David \nEmbury (Philip\'s brother), Paul and Barbara Heck, \nand many more of the Irish Palatines from Ashgrove, \nemigrated to Lower Canada, where they settled in the \nfirst instance about Montreal, and ultimately about \nAugusta, in Upper Canada. " Here their peculiar \nwork, their \' providential mission,\' as I have ven- \ntured to call it, was resumed. They were still pioneers \nand founders of Methodism ; and in the house of John \nand Catherine Lawrence (the widow of Embury) was \norganized the first \'Class\' of Augusta, and Samuel \nEmbury, the son of Philip, was its first Leader. Paul \nand Barbara Heck were among its first members, and \ntheir three sons were also recorded on its roll. They \nwere thus to anticipate, and, in part, prepare the way \nfor the Methodist Itinerancy in Canada, as they had at \nNew York city and in Northern New York ; for \nWilliam Losee, the first regular Methodist preacher in \nCanada, did not enter the province till 1790. The \ngerm of Canadian Methodism was planted by these \nmemorable families five or six years before Losee\'s \narrival."* \n\nSome years before Losee\'s arrival, George Neal, an \nIrish local preacher, and major of a cavalry regiment of \nthe British army, crossed the Niagara River, at Queens- \ntown, and commenced preaching in Canada. Dr. \nBangs, who early travelled the circuits of that region, \n* Dr. Stevens\'s Woman of Methodism, p. 193, 194. \n\n\n\n192 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nsays, " He was a holy man of God, and an able minister \nof the New Testament. His word was blessed to the \nawakening and conversion of many souls, and he was \nalways spoken of by the people with great affection and \nveneration as the pioneer of Methodism in that country. \nAmong those who first joined the society may be men- \ntioned Christian Warner, who lived near what is now \ncalled St. David\'s, and became a class-leader. His \nhouse was a home for the preachers and for preaching \nfor many years. The first Methodist meeting-house \nerected in that part of the country was in his neighbour- \nhood. Neal lived to see large and flourishing societies \nestablished through all that country, and at length was \ngathered to his fathers in a good old age."* For some \nyears this brave Irish military evangelist held up the \nMethodistic banner alone \xe2\x80\x94 the solitary Methodist \npreacher in all Canada; but in 1788, two other noble \npioneers entered the field, one of whom \xe2\x80\x94 James \nM\'Carty \xe2\x80\x94 was an Irishman, from the United States, \nwho nobly lost his life as a martyr in the service of \nCanadian Methodism. Three accounts of the circum- \nstances connected with the death of this devoted man \nnow lie before me \xe2\x80\x94 one written in 1852, by the Eev. \nP. Douglass Gorrie, of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; \na second, by the Eev. George \xc2\xa5. Playter, the historian \nof Methodism in Canada; and the third, by Dr. Stevens. \nI give the summary by Dr. Stevens : \xe2\x80\x94 "In the same \nyear, James M\'Carty, an Irishman, from the United \n\n* Dr. Bangs\'s History of the M. E. Church, II. 122, as quoted \nby Dr. Stevens \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA. \n\n\n\n193 \n\n\n\nStates, and a convert of Whitefield\'s ministry, reached \nKingston, and passed on to Ernestown, where he found \nout Kobert Perry, and other lay Methodists, and began \nimmediately to hold religious meetings in their log- \ncabins. He is described as a man of attractive \nmanners and speech, and large numbers attended his \npreaching, probably the first the settlers had heard \nsince they came into Canada. A great effect was \napparent. Many were brought to a knowledge of the \ntruth and the enjoyment of religion. His success pro- \nvoked the hostility of leading churchmen. A sheriff, \na captain of militia, and an engineer, combined to rid \nthe country of his zealous labours, and M\'Carty was \ndestined to be honoured as the protomartyr of Metho- \ndism in Canada. Under a statute against vagabonds, \nhe was seized while preaching, on Sunday, at his friend \nPerry\'s house, by four armed men. The indignant \ncongregation opposed them, and as Perry offered to give \nbail for his appearance the next day at the magistrate\'s \noffice in Kingston, the assailants retired. They had \ndesigned to carry the preacher to the Kingston prison. \nOn the next day Perry took him to the sheriff in \nthat town, but the officer refused to have anything \nto do with them. The conspirators, however, were at \nhand, and before night had him in prison under some \nfrivolous pretext. Perry again bailed him, but on his \nreturn for trial his enemies were resolved that he should \nnever preach again. He was suddenly seized, thrust \ninto a boat, and conveyed by four Frenchmen, hired for \nthe purpose, down the St. Lawrence, to the rapids near \n\nN \n\n\n\n194 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nCornwall. He was landed on one of the numerous \nsolitary islands of that part of the stream, and may \nhave perished by starvation, or have heen drowned in \nattempting to reach the main shore ; hut his fate has \nnever heen disclosed. The sad mystery has consecrated \nhis name in the history of the Canadian Church. \n"Undoubtedly," says its historian, "M\'Carty was a \nmartyr for the Gospel, and so he was regarded by the \nearly inhabitants."* \n\nMr. Gorrie says : \xe2\x80\x94 " The success of Mr. M\'Carty and \nthe Methodists who co-operated with him, aroused, as \nusual, the ire of some of the Established clergy. A \nminister of the Church of England meeting one of these \nrevivalists one day, said to him abruptly, \'You are \ngoing to hell !\' \'How do you know that 1 ?\' \'Oh, I \nam sure of it ; for you run out against dancing, card- \nplaying, horse-racing, &c, and you\'ll go to hell for it.\' \nHe adds that M\'Carty\'s chief persecutors in Kingston \nsoon ended their career also, the engineer and sheriff both \nhaving died in a few weeks afterward, while the militia \ncaptain subsequently wrote a confession of his crime, \nin which he stated that he had wrongfully persecuted \nan innocent man, and presented it to the judge of the \ncourt. He afterward became insane, and continued so \nuntil his death, "t \n\nWilliam Losee was the first Itinerant who visited \nCanada. He crossed the St. Lawrence in January, \n\n* History of the M. E Church, II. 395, 396. \nf Gome\'s Episcopal Methodism, as it Was and Is, p. 121-123. \n(Auburn, 1852.) \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA. \n\n\n\n195 \n\n\n\n1790, and ere long formed a Circuit \xe2\x80\x94 the first Metho- \ndist Circuit in Canada. He was a young man of burn- \ning zeal, of true apostolic spirit, very much of the same \ntype as Calvin Wooster, and Thomas Walsh. Some \nof his kindred resided at Adolphustown, and here, in \n1792, the first Methodist Chapel in Canada was built. \n" The subscription paper for this edifice is still extant. \nIt bears the names of Embury, Beninger, Eoblin, Huff, \nVandusen, Steele, Button (Ruckle), Ketcheson, and \nothers, memorable in the early history of the denomi- \nnation."* Within a few years Methodism was per- \nmanently established in Canada; and, in 1802, we \nfind the honoured name of Nathan Bangs on the \nminutes for Canada. Here he commenced that career \nof self-sacrificing labour, of heroic enterprise, of apos- \ntolic success, which has secured for him a place second \nto none among the sons of American Methodism. One \ncannot read his biography without feeling "that there \nwere giants in the earth in those days," and ceasing to \nwonder at the progress and victories of Methodism in \nCanada. Nearly sixty years after, when his glorious \ncareer approached its close, and the crown was all \nbut dropped upon his honoured brow, he received a \nletter from the scene of his early toils and triumphs, \nwritten by the venerable William Case \xe2\x80\x94 a veteran \nof the same apostolic mould \xe2\x80\x94 which, as it sheds so \nbeautiful a light upon Irish Methodism in Canada \nin the early times, I shall be excused for tran- \nscribing here : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n* Stevens\'s Women of Methodism, p. 196. \n\n\n\n196 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\n"Alnwick, March 6, 1855. \n" Eeverend and dear Brother, \xe2\x80\x94 What scenes and \nchanges have passed since we commenced our ministry ! \nMost of our early associates in the ministry in this \ncountry have passed triumphantly to the great reward ; \nyet the church is supplied abundantly and ably. The \nmembership, too, have increased from scores to hun- \ndreds and thousands. Once we assembled the few in \nprivate dwellings ; larger assemblies were congregated \nin barns, for churches were \' few and far between.\' \nWe now preach to thousands ; churches have arisen, \nlarge and numerous, in our cities, towns, and circuits. \nBrother, after more than half-a-century of toil, you, \nperhaps, are scarcely able to visit the scenes of your \nformer labours. Would it not be delightful to do so ? \nYour appearance among the descendants of your early \nChristian friends would fill them with delight : and \ncould you not do more for God and the Church by \ntravelling at large than by tracing a thousand times \nthe streets of a city? Your experience in the things \nof God, your counsel in the interests of the Church, \nwould have its influence favourably in the closing \nscene of so lengthened a ministerial course. Could you \nnot again visit Canada, the land of your youth, of your \nconversion to God, your early ministry, and of the \nmission-field you have aided to cultivate? The rail- \nroad would bring you on to Kingston or to Hamilton \nin a few hours. Once we toiled on horseback through \nwild forests, from two and a-half to four miles an hour ; \nnow, forty miles is the speed we move ! Brother, try \nit before leaving for the \' fairer climes.\' .... \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA. \n\n\n\n197 \n\n\n\n" During the winter just passed, I have enjoyed the \nunspeakable pleasure of visiting the scenes of our early \nlabours \xe2\x80\x94 yours and mine. I passed through Hallow- \nwell, Belleville, Kingston, Elizabethtown, Eockville, \nAugusta, Matilda, and thence to By town (Ottawa \nCity), thence to Perth and Walford, on the Eideau ; \nthence home through a portion of the Northern new \nsettlements. In the route, I found some, though few, \nof our former religious friends now living. Arthur \nYoumans, Eufus Shorey, Mrs. M\'Lean (formerly Widow \nCoate), and William Brown are now living, at the ages \nof from eighty to ninety-one. Youmans (at the latter \nage) was one of the members of the first class formed \nin Hallowell, January, 1793, by Darias Dunham. A \nclass paper of the same class was written by Elijah \nWolsey, in 1795. But the parents of the Johnstons, \nCongers, Van Deusens, Bobbins, Germans, Huffs, \nEmburys, Detlors, Clarkes, Parrots, Maddens, Keders, \nColemans, Hecks, Coons, Brouses, Aults, Dulmages, \nLaurences, are all gone ; yet they live in their exam- \nples of piety, integrity, hospitality, and Christian \nbenevolence. These virtues are prominent, to a great \nextent, in their numerous descendants. The progeny \nbears a striking impress of their worthy patriarchal \nfathers. \n\n"You will remember the names of Samuel and Jacob \nHeck, of Augusta, and the Emburys of Bay of Quinte \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe former the sons of Paul Heck and his worthy com- \npanion, the parents of Methodism in the City of New \nYork and in America. The parents are gone, and the \nsons have followed them in the way of holiness to glory; \n\n\n\n198 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nbut a numerous train of grand-children are pursuing the \nChristian course \' their fathers trod,\' intelligent, pious, \nand wealthy. Blessed are the meek, for they shall in- \nherit the earth. A few years since I visited John \nEmbury and his worthy companion. He was then \nninety-eight years old. The scenes of early Methodism \nin New York were vivid in his recollection, and he re- \nferred to them as readily as if they had recently occurred. \nHe said, \' My uncle, Philip Embury, was a great man \xe2\x80\x94 \na powerful preacher \xe2\x80\x94 a very powerful preacher. I had \nheard many ministers before, but nothing reached my \nheart till I heard my uncle Philip preach. I was then \nabout sixteen. The Lord has since been my trust and \nportion. I am now ninety-eight. Yes, my uncle \nPhilip was a great preacher. After this interview he \nlived about a year, and died suddenly as he rose from \nprayers in his family, at the age of ninety-nine. The \nEmburys, Detlors, Millers, Maddens, Switzers, of Bay \nof Quinte, are numerous and pious, and some of them \nministers of the gospel, all firmly grounded in Metho- \ndism. Their Palatine origin is prominent in their \nhealth, integrity, and industry; and their steadfast piety \nby Irish training on Mr. Wesley\'s knee. Old Mrs. \nDetlor, forty years ago, told me when a child in Ireland, \nMr. Wesley took me on his knee, when I sang for him \n\' \' Children of the heavenly King, \nAs we journey let us sing." * \n\n* Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, D.D., by Abel Stevens, \nLL.D. (New York, Carlton and Porter, 1863, p. 386, 388.) A \nchoice book in a thousand. One feels in reading it as if a hun- \ndred men like Nathan Bangs would turn the world upside down. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA. \n\n\n\n199 \n\n\n\n" Paul Heck died at Augusta, in the peace of the gos- \npel, in 1792, aged sixty-two years. \'He was,\' says the \nRev. John Caekoll, of Canada, \'an upright, honest man, \nwhose word was as good as his bond.\' Barbara Heck \nsurvived him about twelve years, and died at the resi- \ndence of her son, Samuel Heck, in front of Augusta, in \n1804, aged seventy years. Her death was befitting her \nlife; her old German Bible \xe2\x80\x94 the guide of her youth in \nIreland, her resource during the falling away of her \npeople in New York, her inseparable companion in all \nher wanderings in the wildernesses of Northern JSTew \nYork and Canada \xe2\x80\x94 was her oracle and comfort to the \nlast. She was found sitting in her chair dead, with the \nwell-used and endeared volume open on her lap; and \nthus passed away this devoted, obscure, and unpreten- \ntious woman, who so faithfully, yet unconsciously, laid \nthe foundation of one of the grandest ecclesiastical \nstructures of modern ages, and whose name will last \nwith ever-increasing brightness \'as long as the sun and \nmoon endure.\' "* \n\nThe Embury and Heck families, so singularly joined \ntogether in our religious history, have blended in several \nneighbourhoods, and the descendants of both families \nare now widely scattered in the churches of Upper and \nLower Canada. Mrs. Embury, Philip\'s widow, married, \nas we have seen, her countryman, John Laurence, and \nbore him four children. Samuel, Philip\'s son, married \nCatherine Miller, of St. Armand, Canada East, and had \ntwelve children, nearly all of whom lived, and in their \n* Stevens\'s Women of Methodism, p. 197, 198. \n\n\n\n200 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nturn founded influential Wesleyan families, every way \nworthy of Irish. Methodism, and of the honoured name \nof Embury. Samuel, as we have seen, was the first \nMethodist Class-leader in Canada, many years before \nLosee crossed the St. Lawrence. He died at Armand, \nin 1853, in the full triumph of faith, in the eighty- \neighth year of his age. \n\nCatherine Elizabeth Embury, Philip\'s daughter, \nmarried Duncan Eisher, Esq., of Montreal. She died in \n1833, leaving a large family of children. "Mrs. Hick, \nwife of the late Eev. John Hick, Wesleyan m in ister, \nMrs. M\'Kenzie, Mrs. John Torrance, and Mrs. Lunn, \nall grand-children of Philip Embury, died happy in God. \nPhilip Embury\'s great-great-grandson, John Torrance, \njun., Esq., now fills the honourable and responsible \nposition of treasurer, and trustee steward of three of our \nlarge "Wesleyan Churches in Montreal."* \n\nThe following with reference to the family of Paul \nand Barbara Heck, and the final resting-place of them- \nselves and several of their children, will be read with \ngreat interest. It is from the pen of the Eev. John \nCarroll, of Canada, one of the honoured and devoted \nmen whom Irish Methodism has given to Canada in \nmodern times. "Paul and Barbara Heck had five chil- \ndren \xe2\x80\x94 namely, Elizabeth, born in JSTew York in 1765; \nJohn, born in the same place, in 1767; Jacob, born \nthere, 1769; Samuel, in Camden, X. T., 28th July, \n1771; and Nancy, at the same place, 1772. They are \n\n* Letter of John Mathewson, Esq., Montreal, in Christian \nAdvocate, January 11, 1866. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA. \n\n\n\n201 \n\n\n\nall now dead. Elizabeth and Xancy died in Montreal; \nSamuel and Jacob at Augusta; and John, unmarried, \nin Georgia, XJ. S., as early as 1805. Jacob married a \nMiss Shorts, who with himself, rests in the country \ngraveyard of the Old Blue Church, where rest also Paul \nand Barbara Heck. Samuel married a Miss "Wright ; \nthe same may be said of their interment. But three of \nJacob\'s children survive; six of Samuel\'s are still living. \nHis son Samuel was a probationer in the Wesleyan \nministry when he was called to his reward ; his precious \ndust also lies in this graveyard. He was eminently \npious, a clear-headed theologian, and a methodical \npreacher of some promise. It must not be forgotten \nthat the elder Samuel was an eminent local minister \nfor more than forty years, who, by his consistency, \nearned the meed of universal respect, and from none \nmore than his immediate neighbours, to whom he \npreached nearly every second Sabbath during the whole \nof the time indicated. He was slow, solemn, weighty, \nyet genial and very hearable. Jacob was one of the \nbest read men we ever had the happiness to converse \nwith, and one whose conversation was as lively and \nplayful as it was instructive. We never saw a finer old \nman. We imagine we can now see his venerable white \nhead, stooping form, and sparkling dark eyes, and also \nhear his ringing, hearty laugh. He showed his amia- \nbility by his fondness for little children, who were \nequally fond of him. The nine surviving grandchildren \nof Paul and Barbara Heck are pious, and many of their \ngrandchildren also. For the reason we have assigned, \n\n\n\n202 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nthis graveyard will be dear to every heart \xe2\x80\xa2with which \nMethodism and the cause of God are regarded as identi- \ncal Canada is highly honoured in having the guardian- \nship of the sacred dust of persons who were instrumental \nin kindling that fire which has broken forth into such \na glorious conflagration on this continent. It is, how- \never, to the shame of Canadian Methodists, that no \nworthy memorial has been erected ere this to the honour \nof Paul and Barbara Heck."* \n\nFrom the same hand we have the following glowing \nnotes of the Old Blue Church Graveyard. \xe2\x80\x94 " There is \nnot a more beautiful part of Canada than that which \nskirts the majestic St. Lawrence, from Brockville to \nPrescott, a distance of twelve miles. The land rises \ngently from the noble river, is in the highest cultiva- \ntion, thoroughly cleared of the primeval forest, orna- \nmented with sightly trees, stone walls, good buildings, \nfine orchards, and in many places the road is adorned \nwith beautiful shade trees, \xe2\x80\x94 the maple, now and then \n*an elm, the pine, and a considerable profusion of the \nsteeple-like Lombardy poplar. About midway between \nthe thriving and sightly town of Prescott and the \npicturesque little village of Maitland, is situated what \nis called 1 The Old Blue Church Graveyard.\' This is \nground which was probably set apart for what was \nthen believed to be the Established Church of the \nProvince, in the early settlement of the country ; but, \n\n* Toronto Christian Guardian. Edited by the Rev. Welling- \nton Jeffers, D.D., another distinguished gift from Ireland to \nCanada. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM JN CANADA. \n\n\n\n203 \n\n\n\nthough part of a \' glehe lot,\' and claimed by Episco- \npalians, all sections of the community bury there as a \nmatter of right. This ground once exhibited a sizeable \nwooden church, the remains of which I have seen. \nThe building once wore a coat of blue paint \xe2\x80\x94 hence its \nname, \' The Blue Church.\' It was demolished several \nyears ago, and a diminutive church-like building erected \nnear the road, out of the materials, for the convenience \nof reading the burial service at funerals \xe2\x80\x94 that is, by \nour Episcopalian friends, who enjoy the exclusive right \nto enter it. The original forest trees which covered \nthis spot of yore, were cleared away by the hands of \nsome whose remains, palsied by the hand of death, \nnow rest amid the roots of the fallen monarchs of the \nwoods; but the second growth of pines, which has \nsince sprung up, and now nearly canopy it with their \nspreading branches, tower to the height of forty or fifty \nfeet. It is a lovely spot. Here lie buried, not 1 the \nrude forefathers\' of Augusta\'s present inhabitants \nmerely, but many men of mark among the early \nsettlers of the country, particularly many early Metho- \ndist worthies. The spot is specially remarkable as \ncontaining all that was mortal of several of the most \ndistinguished German Irish Methodists, or Palatines, \nwho came to New York in 1760 and following years, \nwhere they constituted the first Methodist Society. \nHere lie the remains of the once beautiful Mary \nSwitzer, married at the early age of sixteen to Philip \nEmbury, the apostle of Methodism in the city of New \nYork; also those of the much respected John Law- \n\n\n\n204 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nrence, a pious young man, who left Ireland in com- \npany with the Emburys, and who married Mrs. \nEmbury. Here also lie Paul and Barbara Heck, who \nwere among the more prominent founders of the New \nYork Society, and some of their descendants."* \n\nA more recent number of the same journal supple- \nments the above by the following interesting particu- \nlars : \xe2\x80\x94 " I had the pleasure of feasting my eyes once \nmore with the mellow beauties of the Old Blue Church \nGraveyard. It is true the old church has long since \npassed away, and only a tiny chapel, for funeral ser- \nvices, occupies its place. But there lies still the sunny \nsidehill spot, partly shaded with negligently beautiful \npines. Within it lie not only the rude forefathers of \nthe surrounding settlements, but many of the leading \nminds, religious and secular, of their infant Canada. \nYes, here lie old Dr. Henderson, and many of his \ndescendants ; and David Brakenridge, Esq., the magis- \ntrate and preacher, who, I remarked his tombstone \nsays, died in 1833, at the age of seventy. But here \nlie also Paul and Barbara Heck, the founders of Metho- \ndism in New York, Cambridge, near Lake Champlain, \nand Augusta, Canada. Two of their sons, Jacob and \nSamuel, with their wives and some of their children, \nlie here. Here also lies the Rev. Thomas Madden, one \nof the first Canadians who became an Itinerant, with \nhis two angel daughters, Hester and Eliza, by his side. \nBut the time would fail to enumerate all who lie \naround them. Many, in that consecrated ground, will \n* Toronto Christian Guardian. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA. \n\n\n\n205 \n\n\n\nshine like the firmament in the morning of the resur- \nrection. \n\n" From the graveyard I bent my steps to the Heck \nhomesteads, for there are two, side by side, facing on \nthe majestic St. Lawrence. Jacob\'s, who was the elder \nof the two brothers, is nearer to the graveyard. He \nhad lived in Lower Canada longer than the rest of the \nfamily, and when he made him a home in the Upper \nProvince, he brought with him Franco- Canadian ideas \nof domestic architecture. In fact, I suppose, the original \ntype of the house is Norman. It deserves the name of \n\' hall \' much better than many barracks in England re- \njoicing in that title. It stands on a knoll, quite near \nthe river. It is a large, tall, two-storied stone building, \nwith a very steep roof, folding windows, and massive \nwalls. The out-buildings are in good repair, but the \nlarge, aged, and irregular planted Lombardy poplars \naround, have begun to decay, producing a melancholy \nimpression. This melancholy is deepened when the \nreturning acquaintance of other years enters, and \nmisses the benignant eye and intelligent face of the \ngray-haired proprietor ; and, most of all, misses his \nwonderously fascinating conversation. The mother, \nand several of the precious daughters, too, are missed. \nBut two of the family linger in that homestead. The \nonce beautiful, but still lady-like and noble Catherine, \nsurvives, who, in early life, sacrificed an affluent and \nrespectable settlement, because she foresaw it would be \nadverse to her spiritual interests. Though now aged \nand infirm, her conversation is religiously cheerful, \n\n\n\n206 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nwhile her countenance bespeaks the most abiding \nhappiness. Her religious hopes and sentiments are \nshared by her younger sister, Trances, who is scarcely \nless infirm than she. May time deal gently with these \nladies, and Jehovah crown their closing years with peace ! \nThings are more modern, vital, and progressive, in \nSamuel\'s late estate. The house is more modern, and \nthe environs more beautiful, but not more interesting. \nThe broad acres around are well and scientifically culti- \nvated. George Heck, Esq., the youngest grandson of \nthe renowned Paul and Barbara, is the presiding and \nactive genius of the place. Besides his lovely wife and \nchildren, two married sisters, Hester and Mary Ann, \npatterns of well-read and intelligent piety, remain to \nremind one of their parents. This is one of the too \nfew Methodist families in which the simple piety of \ntheir worthy parents has not deteriorated along with \nincreasing knowledge and refinement."* \n\nHere I must bid farewell to the honoured names of \nEmbury and Barbara Heck, the founders of Methodism \nin the United States and in Canada. Never before \nwere any two obscure families so honoured of God. \nNever again till the last trump, perhaps, will it fall to \nthe lot of any two individuals to write their names so \nimp erishably upon the hearts of millions of the children \nof men, as Philip Embury and Barbara Heck, of \nBallingran ! \n\nI cannot but think Mrs. Heck\'s death most beautiful. \nIt would make a grand subject for a painting. The \n\n* Toronto Christian Guardian. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA. \n\n\n\n207 \n\n\n\nMother of American and Canadian Methodism falling \nasleep in Jesus, "with her German Bible lying open on \nher lap ! When I think of her in life and in death, and \nher consistent Methodist devotedness to God and His \nChurch reflected in her children and her children\'s \nchildren, I feel proud, as an Irish Methodist, that \nBarbara Heck belongs to Ireland by birth, and to Irish \nMethodism as part of that noble fruit with which God \nhas honoured its hallowed and self-denying toil; and my \nheart says, "many daughters have done virtuously, but \nthou excellest them all!" \n\nI am inclined to think that Canadian Methodism is \neven more deeply indebted to Ireland in proportion to \nits numbers, than the Methodist Episcopal Church in \nthe States. Again and again, since I commenced to \nstudy the relationship existing between Irish and \nAmerican Methodism, have I been amazed at the con- \nstitutional stamina and vitality of Irish Methodism, that \nit lives, aye, and nourishes, after giving hundreds of its \nchoicest spirits to the ranks of the ministry, and tens of \nthousands of its people to our churches in the United \nStates and Canada. From documents now before me, \nI should not be surprised if more than one fourth of all \nthe Methodists in Canada are directly or more remotely \nconnected with Irish Methodism. Perhaps this estimate \nis far too low. The friendly reader who has accom- \npanied me so far can form some faint conception of the \nloss involved in the emigration of such families as those \nof Embury and Paul Heck. But though these are con- \nfessedly special cases, there have been thousands, of \n\n\n\n208 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OP \n\n\n\nwhich, the following (taken almost at random from a \ndrawer full of similar cuttings), is a fair specimen. It \nis from the Toronto Christian Guardian, and was \nwritten by the Eev. William Henry Poole, who is \nhimself another of the noble band Ireland has given to \nthe Canadian ministry. " In that revival (at Ballingran), \nGarrett Miller, known and distinguished as Grand- \nfather Miller, with many others, was made to rejoice in \nthe knowledge of sins forgiven, and with an Embury, a \nHeck, a Switzer, and others, he, too, sought a home in \nAmerica. He pitched his tent at Cambridge, York \nState, saying, "Eor now the Lord hath made room for \nus." \n\n"In the Eevolutionary War he was wounded and made \nprisoner in the English service, carrying from the well- \nfought field the marks and scars to his grave. When \nthe storm-cloud was passed, and the war was over, he \nremoved to Sorrell, Canada East, but not enjoying the \nreligious atmosphere of the place, he moved with his \nfamily to Ernestown, where he died in 1823. The eye \nof the venerable man, who was at once a soldier and a \nChristian, used to brighten, and his tongue become \neloquent, as he told of Mr. Wesley\'s frequent visits to \nhis father\'s house and neighbourhood. He often heard \nMr. Wesley preach. The three worthies who have \nlately left us, were wont to tell their children and grand- \nchildren, our people were Palatines from Ireland, con- \nverted to God through the instrumentality of Mr. \nWesley. \n\n"William Miller, the eldest son, was born Nov. 25, \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA. \n\n\n\n205 \n\n\n\n1783. When twenty -four years of age, lie took to his \nhome and heart Miss Hannah M\'Kim, who made a \ngood wife, a good mother, and a good Christian. She \nleft him with nine children, three of whom soon \nfollowed her to the better country. The others, I trust, \nare contending for the same home, all active and useful \nmembers of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. . . . \nFor full thirty years his house was open for public \nworship, where the Wesleyan ministers and their many \n\nvisitors found a hearty welcome Had he \n\nlived a few days longer he would have seen his eightieth \nbirth-day. He died on the 20th of October, 1863. He \nwas followed to the Old Switzer\'s Church by a large \nretinue of sorrowing children and grand-children, where, \nafter a short address, his body was committed to the \ntomb, to wait till Christ shall bid it rise. \n\n"His brother, Garrett Miller, was born Nov. 19, \n1786. He came to Ernestown when about twelve years \nof age. The next year he gave himself to God and to \nthe Church, joined Mr. Detlor\'s* class, and remained \nunshaken in his confidence until his last hour. His \nstability in relation to the church of his early choice \nmay be accounted for, in part at least, from the fact \nthat he was an early and constant reader of our Church \norgan, as a welcome weekly visitor; close and continued \nattention to its columns put him in possession of that \ninformation which saved himself and others in the years \nof storm and trial. Others were borne off in the tide \n\n* Also from Ireland, the husband of Mrs. Detlor, mentioned \nabove. \n\no \n\n\n\n206 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nof division, when lie remained unmoved, a pillar in the \nChurch of God. \n\n"In Church matters, as in his personal experience, he \noften said, \'My heart is fixed.\' He was more knowing \nand better read in Church matters than many of his \nday ; and to his credit it may also be said he was more \nliberal to the cause of God. The house of the Lord was \nhis chief joy; often, when scarcely able to sit up in his \nchair, he found his way to the house of prayer. His \nwife\'s maiden name was Nancy Foster ; with her he \nlived long and happily, leaving behind him six married \nchildren, and a number of grand-children. One of his \nsons is a highly respected and useful Wesleyan Metho- \ndist minister. After a long illness of patient suffering, \nhe died in great peace, on Monday, the 28th of Decem- \nber, 1863. Of him we may say, that \n\n\' From early boyhood to his seventy-eighth, \nPursued the way to endless rest ; \nAnd ripening to his exit, \nLeft in peace. \' \n\n" Their brother, John Miller, was born Dec. 19,17 90, \nand he, too, in early life, found the pearl of great price. \nAs his son, the Eev. A. Miller, Wesleyan minister, in- \ntends to furnish a memoir of his useful life and happy \ndeath, I did not get the particulars. I can, however, \nbear testimony to the triumphs of grace in his last hours ; \nthat confidence in his Saviour that sustained him in a \nlong life of fidelity in his master\'s cause, secured for \nhim a triumphal exit from his work to his reward. He \nwas an uncompromising opponent to everything that \nseemed to be an infringement on old Methodism. . \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN CANADA. \n\n\n\n207 \n\n\n\nHis class and his church loved him much. All found \nin him a good counsellor, a warm friend, and a consis- \ntent member of the Church. It was a great pleasure to \nhim to entertain the ministers of the gospel : as his \nfathers did in this particular, so did he, and indeed his \nbrothers also. He calmly fell asleep on the 15th of \nJanuary, 1864, leaving a large family following him on \nthe same path to heaven." * \n\nIrish Methodism has probably lost from fifty to \nseventy thousand members within the last century, of \nwhom old Garrett Miller and his worthy family are \nnot unfair specimens. If we add the children (who \nwould in all probability have joined the church of their \nfathers), the loss to the Irish Methodist Church, by emi- \ngration during the past century, cannot be much less \nthan from an hundred and fifty to two hundred thou- \nsand members ! And yet some wise folk in England \nand elsewhere amuse the public with homilies on the \nfailure of Irish Methodism ! t \n\nCanada, in point of extent of territory, is about equal to \nthe United States, and as it possesses every element of \nnational wealth and greatness, it is destined to a glorious \nfuture. The population is at present rising more rapidly \nthan perhaps any other part of the world. And Metho- \ndism is rising with it, and, I believe, destined to keep \npace with it as in the States. At the recent Montreal \nConference it was stated that while in 1825 the \nnumber of ministers was but 39, in 1865 it was 526. \n\n* Toronto Christian Guardian. \n\nf See some of the English correspondents of the Provincial \nWesleyan, and other American journals. \n\n\n\n208 IRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OP METHODISM, &C. \n\nIn the former year, Samuel Embury\'s little class at \nAugusta reported 7,000 members throughout the Pro- \nvinces, and in 1865, 56,768! with perhaps five times \nthat number, including children, under Methodist in- \nfluence and teaching. And even these figures, startling \nthough they be, by no means adequately represent the \nactual growth of the seed planted at Augusta by Samuel \nEmbury and Barbara Heck. The above figures represent \nmerely the branch of Canadian Methodism which is in \nconnexion with the British Conference. Over and \nabove this, the Canadian Wesle} r an Methodist New \nConnexion Church reports, 90 Ministers, 147 Local \nPreachers, and nearly 9,000 Church Members. And \nanother branch of Canadian Methodism, "The Metho- \ndist Episcopal Church in Canada," reports, 3 Annual- \nConferences, 2 Bishops, 216 Itinerant Ministers, and \n224 Local Preachers, and 20,000 Church Members, and \nperhaps three or four times that number directly under \nits influence. These are all fully equipped with primary \nand superior schools, male and female Colleges, a Wes- \nleyan University, equal, if not superior to, anything in \nCanada, and weekly religious newspapers, scattered \nin thousands throughout the Provinces, and edited by \nfirst-class men as in the States. Looking at the whole, \nin this memorable Centenary year, we may well say, \n"What hath God wrought !" The seed sown in Samuel \nEmbury\'s class at Augusta, has expanded under the \nfostering hand of God, into the largest and most in- \nfluential church in Canada, having more or less under \nits influence, one fourth op the entire population! \n\n\n\np. \n\nof iiWjmfcrtsm m \xe2\x82\xacmkxn \n\n\n\nIrishmen have warred a good warfare, and died triumphantly in almost \nevery important Methodist field of the world. They founded the denomi- \nnation, or helped to found it, as we have seen, in the United states of \nAmerica, in the British North American Provinces, in the West Indies, in \nAustralia, in Africa, and in India; and they sleep in Missionary graves \nawaiting the resurrection trumpet, in nearly all parts of the globe to which \nMethodism has borne the cross." \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Stevens\'s History of Methodism, iii. \n439. \n\n\n\nCHAPTEE XI. \n\n\n\nunb % \n%IMXUK. \n\nEXTENT OF EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA\xe2\x80\x94 METHODISM THERE, AS \nIN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, THE CHILD OF IRISH \nMETHODISM \xe2\x80\x94 LAURENCE COUGHLAN \xe2\x80\x94 HIS CHARACTER \xe2\x80\x94 LET- \nTERS TO WESLEY \xe2\x80\x94 COMMENCED HIS LABOURS IN 1765\xe2\x80\x94 LETTER \nFROM NEWFOUNDLAND TO WESLEY \xe2\x80\x94 HIS LABOURS, PERSECU- \nTION, AND TRIUMPHS \xe2\x80\x94 MORAL STATE OF NEWFOUNDLAND \xe2\x80\x94 \nCONVERSION OF ARTHUR THOMEY \xe2\x80\x94 JOHN STRETTON, OF \nWATERFORD \xe2\x80\x94 HIS CONVERSION AND EMIGRATION TO NEW- \nFOUNDLAND \xe2\x80\x94 MRS. BENNIS, OF LIMERICK \xe2\x80\x94 FIRST METHODIST \nCHAPEL IN EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA, BUILT AND OPENED \nBY STRETTON, AT HARBOUR GRACE \xe2\x80\x94 HIS CHARACTER AND \nLABOURS\xe2\x80\x94 RETURN OF COUGHLAN TO ENGLAND, AND HIS \nSUDDEN DEATH \xe2\x80\x94 ORIGIN OF METHODISM IN THE CHANNEL \nISLANDS, AND IN FRANCE \xe2\x80\x94 LABOURS OF STRETTON AND \nTHOMEY \xe2\x80\x94 ARRIVAL OF HOSKINS \xe2\x80\x94 STRETTON APPLIES TO \nWESLEY FOR A PREACHER\xe2\x80\x94 WESLEY\'S LETTER TO HIM \xe2\x80\x94 \nAPPOINTMENT OF JOHN M \'GEARY, IN 1785 \xe2\x80\x94 PROGRESS OF THE \nCAUSE \xe2\x80\x94 REV. JOHN REMMINGTON \xe2\x80\x94 SAMUEL ELLIS AND \nSAMUEL M \'DO WELL \xe2\x80\x94 REV. GEORGB CUBITT AND CAPTAIN \nVICKERS \xe2\x80\x94 PRESENT STATE OF METHODISM IN EASTERN \nBRITISH AMERICA. \n\nAS many in Ireland have no definite idea of what is \nmeant by "Eastern British America" as distin- \nguished from Canada, we may pause for a moment and \n\n\n\n212 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OP \n\n\n\nendeavour to give them some conception of the vast \nand important territory denominated " Eastern British \nAmerica." It includes Newfoundland, with its un- \nrivalled fisheries, extending along 1,200 miles of coast, \nmaking it an El Dorado of wealth. This island alone \nis equal in extent to the united kingdoms of Denmark \nand Hanover. Nova Scotia, our oldest possession on \nthe American continent, which, with Cape Breton, is \nin extent equal to Switzerland. New Brunswick, \n" grand in its forests, and fertile in its lands, with \na growing population of hardy settlers, the germ of a \nfuture full of promise,"* and embracing a territory equal \nto both Holland and Belgium : and Prince Edward\'s \nIsland, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, " as large as that \nfamous Italian State, the Grand Duchy of Parma; \nwhich, since the downfall of her meteor lord, has \nformed the dominion of Maria Louisa, "t \n\nAnd if there are few who have any adequate concep- \ntion of the extent and importance of Eastern British \nAmerica, the number is still less who know that the \nMethodist Church in this territory, as in the United \nStates aud in Canada, is the offspring of Irish Metho- \ndism. With the claims upon my space, and the ex- \ntent to which this book has already grown beyond \nwhat I intended, I cannot do more than glance at the \ncircumstances under which Methodism was introduced \n\n* See a noble speech by the Eev. George Douglas, Wesle3 T an \nminister, of Canada, in Montreal Herald, Nov. 9, 1864. \n\nf Arthur\'s Extent and Moral Statistics of the British Empire, \np. 13. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. 213 \n\ninto Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and record a few \nof the honoured Irish names which grace its early \nMethodist history. \n\nLaurence Coughlan was the first who unfurled the \nMethodistic banner in Newfoundland, in 1765 \xe2\x80\x94 that is, \na year before Embury commenced preaching in New \nYork; and hence, Methodism in Eastern British America \nis somewhat older than in either the United States or \nCanada. Coughlan was converted in Ireland- at a \nvery early period, probably about the year 1753, and \nwas received on trial as a Methodist preacher in 1755. \nHe travelled for several years in Ireland and England, \nthough we cannot trace his career from year to year, \nas the stations were not published regularly at this \nearly period. The following letters were written to \nWesley prior to his removal to Newfoundland, and \nwill serve to show the spirit of this apostle of Metho- \ndism in Eastern British America : \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x96\xa0 \n\n11 Jan. 26, 1762. \n" Eev. Sir, \xe2\x80\x94 I bless God I do hold fast whereunto \nI have attained. Christ is all in all to my soul. In \nall his works my God I see \xe2\x80\x94 the object of my love. \nTwo or three years ago you wrote the following words, \nwith a diamond pencil, on a window in Whitehaven : \n\' God is here.\' These words have often since been \nmade a great blessing to my soul. I am often so filled \nwith gratitude that I can let silence speak his praise. \nSometimes it is drawn out in sweet, holy mourning, \nfor those who are as sheep without a shepherd. At \nother times God shows me what a poor, helpless \n\n\n\n214 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\ncreature I am. And the sense of this always abides \nin me, so that I am often amazed at my own ignor- \nance ; and whatever good I feel or do, I can truly say, \nit is the Lord. I now hear a voice, \' in a few years thou \nwilt turn out worse than ever.\' But, blessed by God, \nI hear and follow his voice; therefore, I take no \nthought for the morrow. This day is put into my \nhands, and I have only to make the best of it. I have \nneed to watch against my own will. But is there not \nwhat we may call an innocent will? For instance, I \nwill to be in London, from this motive only, that I \nmay hear more of the praises of God. So I choose or \nrefuse this or that kind of food, that I may be more fit \nto serve God. But I am not uneasy about it. If I \nwere, I apprehend it would be a sinful will. No, I \nam entirely resigned, knowing God will cause all \nthings to work together for good. \xe2\x80\x94 I am, Eev. Sir, \nyours, " Laurence Coughlan." \n\n"April, 12, 1762. \n"Eev. Sir, \xe2\x80\x94 I stayed two nights at Chester after you, \nand indeed it was a time of love. In the meetiDgs of \nthe bands several of our friends spoke. Old Mr. \nPrichard was the first: he said, \'For some time I have \nbeen longing for a clean heart, yet I thought God would \nnot give it to so vile a sinner, and the first night Mr. \nW. preached, I felt something across my heart like an \niron bar, cold and hard. But, hearing Mr. W. insist on \nthe word now, I said, " Lord, here I am, a poor sinner. \nI believe thou canst save me now, and give me a clean \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. 215 \n\nheart." In that moment, Jesus said to my soul, " I \nwill, be thou clean." Immediately that bar was broken, \nand all my soul was filled with love, nor could I doubt \nbut Jesus had made me clean through the word which \nhe had spoken to my soul.\' And three more were \nenabled, before we parted, to declare the same. \n\n" I find Christ to be exceeding precious to my soul, \nand it is my one desire to do his will. My soul is like \na watered garden ; my life is hid with Christ in God, \nand I believe, when Christ, who is my life, shall appear, \nI shall appear with him in glory. \xe2\x80\x94 I am, Eev. Sir, \nyours truly, "Laurence Coughlan." \n\nHe was not sent to Newfoundland by Wesley, but \nwith his concurrence, and that of the Countess of \nHuntingdon, he was ordained by the Bishop of London, \nand sent out to Newfoundland in connexion with "the \nSociety for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign \nParts."* Coke and Moore, in their "Life of Wesley;" \nMyles, in his "Chronological History;" and Mr. Atmore, \nin his "Methodist Memorial," all say that he was or- \ndained in 1768, but the following letter proves con- \nclusively that 1765, as given above, is the true date. \nThis letter was written a few months prior to his return \nhome. \n\n"Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, \nNov. 4, 1772. \n\n" Eev. Sir, \xe2\x80\x94 I bless God, my poor labours in this \nland have been attended with some little success ; some \n\n* Myles calls it "The Society for Promoting Christian Know- \nledge." \n\n\n\n216 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OP \n\n\n\nprecious souls art gone to glory, and a few more are \nwalking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comforts of \nthe Holy Ghost. \n\n" I am now in the seventh year of my servitude as a \nMissionary \xe2\x96\xa0* at the end of which I hope to return to \nEngland. Could I travel up and down in this land, so \nas to be useful any longer, I would gladly stay, but as \nI cannot, except by water, in small boats, I am not able \nto stand it. \n\n"I am, and do confess myself, a Methodist. The \nname I love, and hope I ever shall. The plan which \nyou first taught me I have followed, as to doctrine and \ndiscipline. Our married men meet apart once a week, \nand the married women do the same. This has given \ngreat offence, so that repeated complaints have been \nmade to the Governor. But truth is mighty, and will \nprevail. \n\n" In winter I go from house to house, and expound \nsome part of God\'s word. This has also given great \noffence; but God is above men, devils, and sin. The \nSociety,t I make no doubt, have many complaints \nagainst me, but in this I shall commit all to God, for \nI am conscious to myself, that what I do is for the \nglory of God, and the good of souls. We have the \nSacrament once a month, and have about two hundred \ncommunicants. This is more than all the other mission- \naries in the land have; nor do I know of any who \n\n* The Italics are mine. \n\n+ The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign \nParts. Established 1701. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. 217 \n\nattend our sacrament who have not the fear of God, and \nsome are happy in his love. There are some also, whose \nmouths God has opened to give a word of exhortation. \nI hope he will raise up more. \n\n"About this time twelvemonths T hope to be on my \npassage for England. If I come by the way of Ireland, \nI should like to see my old friends there. I shall be \nglad to know if it will be agreeable to you for me to \nspeak in your societies. I beg leave to ask you one \nthing more. Having served the Society seven years, as \ntheir missionary, upon my return to England with a \nstrong testimonial from my parish, is the Society obliged \nto give me a living\'? and if I could get a place in the \nChurch (of England), would you advise me to accept \nit"? If I know my own heart, I would be where I could \nbe most useful. To be shut up in a little parish church, \nand to conform in every little thing, for sixty or a hun- \ndred pounds a year, I would not : no, nor even for a \nthousand. My talents, you very well know, Sir, are \nbut small, so that to be shut up here any longer will \nnot do. I am sure it is high time that I should be \nremoved. Who God will provide for this people I \nknow not. But he opens and none can shut. I have \ninformed good Lady Huntingdon of my coming next \nyear. Her plan is somewhat agreeable to me ; that is, \nin going from one place to another. Yet there is one \nthing wanting \xe2\x80\x94 viz. discipline, which I look upon, \nunder God, has been the preserving of my Society. My \npreaching in this land would do but little good, were it \nnot for our little meetings. A line from you next \n\n\n\n218 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nspring will be very acceptable to your dutiful son in the \nGospel, \n\n"L. Coughlan." \n\n"To the Rev. John Wesley." \n\nThis letter satisfactorily proves two points \xe2\x80\x94 first, that \nCoughlan was substantially a Methodist preacher, \nthough not actually sent out by John Wesley ; and \nsecondly, that he commenced his labours in Newfound- \nland in 1765. " Newfoundland was then truly mission- \nary ground. The country was not colonized; the forests \nwere in their primitive simplicity ; there were no roads, \nbut few horses, and no vehicles of any kind ; no bridges, \nand the weary traveller, with his knapsack at his back, \nwould climb the rocks, and wade every stream in his \nway. The children were without education; the people \nwithout religious instruction; and the land without \nBibles."* Into this discouraging and most laborious \nfield, our heroic evangelist entered, and speedily encoun- \ntered the most formidable opposition, principally from \nthe Church of England Clergy, who denounced him as \na Methodist, because of the doctrine of salvation by \nfaith which he preached, and of the class meetings which \nhe established. He was prosecuted in the chief court \nof the Island, but escaped the fury of his enemies. In \na letter to the society which employed him, he was \naccused of almost every conceivable crime, and still he \nbravely held on his way. At last, in order to shut the \nmouth of this brave Methodist preacher, some of his \n\n* Rev. W. Wilson, in Provincial Wesleyan. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. 219 \n\nenemies hired a physician to poison him. But the \nphysician was converted under the sturdy evangelist\'s \nministry, and discovered the diabolical plot ! And now \nGod gave testimony to the Word of his grace ministered \nby his faithful servant. The Spirit was poured from on \nhigh, and many were converted both at Harbour Grace \nand Carbonear, who were duly formed into classes. \nThe flame of persecution now ran higher than ever, and \nhe was summoned before the Governor, as a public dis- \nturber. But again the indomitable preacher was* des- \ntined to triumph, for the Governor, greatly to his credit, \nnot only declared in his favour, but made him a Justice \nof the Peace ! * Persecution now ceased, and for about \nfour years he continued to labour on the Island, and \nultimately succeeded in enrolling about two hundred \npersons, as appears from the foregoing letter to Wesley. \n\nDuring Coughlan\'s stay in Newfoundland, Wesley \nnow and then wrote to him, by way of cheering him \namid the fearful discouragements identified with his \nborean field of labour. Under date Aug. 29, 1768, \nWesley says : \xe2\x80\x94 " Dear Laurence, \xe2\x80\x94 By a various train \nof providences you have been led to the very place \nwhere God intended you should be ; and you have \nreason to praise him that he has not suffered\' your \nlabours there to be in vain. In a short time, how \nlittle will it signify whether we had lived in the \nSummer Islands, or beneath \n\n\' The rage of Arctos, and eternal frost.\' \n\n* I am sorry that I cannot find out the name of this worthy \nGovernor. It would be well worth printing. \n\n\n\n220 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\n"How soon will this dream of life be at an end? \nAnd when we are once landed in eternity, it will be \nall one whether we spent our time on earth in a \npalace, or had not where to lay our head."* \n\nEev. William Wilson, of the Eastern British American \nConference, in a private letter, now before me, says : \xe2\x80\x94 \n"Mr. Coughlan laboured seven years in Harbour Grace \nand Carbonear, amidst great opposition and perse- \ncution, but with great zeal, faithfulness, and success. \n\n" In the second year of my missionary life (1821), \nit was my privilege to be acquainted with some few, \nthen aged persons, who had been brought to God \nthrough his labours, and who had, for more than half \na century, lived in the favour of God, and had uni- \nformly adorned their religious profession. \n\n"When Mr. Coughlan came to Newfoundland, the \npeople were in a fearful state. There were no schools \nfor the children, no churches, no Protestant institu- \ntions of any kind, and there was no Sabbath. The \nsettlers were almost lawless ; and although originally \nfrom different parts of the United Kingdom, were now \nfast sinking into heathenism, or being engulphed in \nthe soul-deceiving and God-dishonouring dogmas of \nPopery. In point of morals, they were sunk so \nlow, and their wickedness had become so enormous, \nas to have been scarcely exceeded by the guilty inhabi- \ntants of Sodom. In the midst of this people did this \ndevoted servant of Christ open his mission, and with \ngreat plainness and energy did he preach a free, a \n* Wesley\'s Journal, iii. 324. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA.. 221 \n\npresent, and a full salvation, and constantly did lie \ninsist upon the great Scripture truth, \'Ye must be \nborn again.\' The house was soon filled to overflow- \ning ; some were astonished ; others ridiculed the \npreacher; some were annoyed with his plainness of \nspeech ; and some persecuted him. But several \nwere brought under the influence of Divine truth, \ncast themselves upon the mercy of God, and found \npardon through the precious blood of Christ." \n\nAmongst the first-fruits of Coughlan\'s ministry was \nMr. Arthur Thomey, an intelligent Irish merchant, \nwho was engaged in the fishing business at Harbour \nGrace. He speedily became a most acceptable and \ndevoted local preacher, who, amidst great hardships \nand privations, itinerated along the north shore of \nConception Bay, preaching salvation by faith amongst \nthe inhabitants of the numerous coves that indent that \nnoble estuary. \n\nIn the year 1770, Coughlan\'s hands were strength- \nened by the arrival of another devoted Irishman, whose \nname can never perish in Methodism in Eastern British \nAmerica \xe2\x80\x94 Mr. John Stretton, of Waterford, son to \nMr. John Stretton, of Limerick, a prominent friend of \nMethodism in the early day. I have already men- \ntioned more than once the honoured name of Mrs. \nBennis, as the first person who joined our church in \nLimerick, and the friend and correspondent of Wesley.* \nYoung Stretton removed to Waterford, where he car- \nried on an important branch of his business in the \n* See pp. 42, 45. \n\nP \n\n\n\n222 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OP \n\n\n\nNewfoundland trade. He was favourable to Methodism, \nbut not decided for God. He resolved to remove to \nNewfoundland, with the view of improving his business ; \nand shortly before his removal, the devoted Mrs. Bennis \nvisited him in Waterford, and was the instrument of \nhis conversion. On his removal to Newfoundland, with \ntrue Irish ardour, he joined Coughlan and Thomey, and \nspeedily became a prominent and successful local \npreacher. He built the first Methodist Chapel in \nEastern British America, at Harbour Grace, out of his \nown funds, and after Coughlan\'s return home, in the \nabsence of any regular minister, dedicated it himself! \nMrs. Bennis carried on a regular correspondence with \nhim for years, and these glowing letters, full of life and \nfire, had much to do with making Stretton the man he \nwas in Newfoundland.* Mr. Wilson says (in the letter \nquoted above), " He was a man of talent, of sterling \npiety, and a very acceptable preacher. He, with Mr. \nThomey, settled as a merchant in Harbour Grace, and \nby these two important auxiliaries, Methodism soon \nacquired a character and a stability which it retains to \nthe present day. While Mr. Coughlan mostly confined \n\n* This devoted Christian lady \xe2\x80\x94 one of the brightest ornaments \nof Methodism in Limerick, for nearly half a century \xe2\x80\x94 emigrated \nto America in the decline of life, and died in Philadelphia, in \n1802. Her letters \xe2\x80\x94 a rich legacy of truth to the Church \xe2\x80\x94 were \npublished by her son, Thomas Bennis, in Philadelphia, in 1809, \nunder the title " Christian Correspondence : being a Collection \nof Letters written by,the late Rev. John Wesley, the late Mrs. \nEliza Bennis, and others." It is a rare book in more senses than \none. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. 223 \n\nhis labours to Harbour Grace and Carbonear, these ex- \ncellent local brethren itinerated up and down the North \nshore, and even went as far as St. John\'s to preach the \ngospel of the Lord Jesus." \n\nCoughlan returned to England in 1773, leaving the \nwork in the hands of Thomey and Stretton. He asked \nWesley to give him a Circuit; but before his appoint- \nment, while he was engaged in conversation with \nWesley in his study, he was seized with a paralytic \nstroke, and, like Boardman, was suddenly taken to the \nparadise of God. \n\nA most interesting result of Coughlan\'s mission to \nNewfoundland was the introduction of Methodism into \nthe Norman Isles (now called the Channel Isles) and \ninto France. Peter Le Sueur, a young man from Jersey, \nengaged in the Newfoundland trade, heard Coughlan at \nHarbour Grace, and was deeply convinced of sin. He \nreturned to Jersey, and told his family and friends what \nhe had heard from this strange man in Newfoundland, \nand what he had felt under his ministry. They thought \nhim mad, but his impressions deepened, and he longed \nfor some one to guide him to the Saviour. After a \ntime, John Fenton, one of Coughlan\'s converts, came \nfrom Newfoundland to Jersey, and pointed Le Sueur to \nChrist. In a short time Le Sueur and his wife (who \nhad been violently opposed to the new religion) became \nconverted, and twelve of their neighbours joined in \ntheir humble meetings. Le Sueur and Fenton became \nlocal preachers. The sacred flame spread, and in 1 786 we \nfind Robert Carr Brackenburt and Adam Clarke as \n\n\n\n224 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nmissionaries to the Norman Isles. Bracken bury invaded \nGuernsey, where he was instrumental in the conversion \nof the late Eev. John De Quetteville, who, in 1790, \ncarried the Methodist banner into Popish France ! * \n\n"Faithfully," says Mr. Wilson, "did Messrs. Stretton \nand Thomey discharge the duty which now devolved \nupon them. But they were men in business, and the \nlack of a pastor who should be wholly devoted to the \nwork, was soon severely felt. Besides, they were not \nin \' Holy Orders the magistrates, therefore, took a \nstand against them, and used every effort with the \npeople to prevent them from hearing laymen preach. \nAmong other means employed to accomplish their pur- \npose, these wicked men determined to read prayers \nthemselves, in the Church, on Sabbath, expecting \nthereby to keep the people from going to the hated \nMethodist meeting. Of this matter Mr. Stretton gives \nthe following account in a letter to a friend, dated \nNovember, 1775. \'After Mr. Coughlan\'s sailing for \nEurope, the justices (his avowed enemies) took upon \nthemselves to read prayers in the Church, and laboured \nwith all their might to introduce the dullest formality \nin room of the pure gospel which he had preached. \nThey partly succeeded, for many who had received the \ntruth under him had been wont to meet as a class on \nSabbath evenings, but now their worships would not \nsuffer it. \n\n* We have now in the Channel Islands 18 Ministers, and 2595 \nMembers, and a separate Conference in France, which is quietly \ndoing a great work in that interesting land. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IX EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. 225 \n\n"\'Mr. Arthur Thomey (a respectable merchant who \nwas converted under Mr. Coughlan), and I, being dis- \ngusted with this mode of action on the part of the \njustices, resolved to oppose the torrent of iniquity. We \ngathered a few together who loved the Lord Jesus, and \nwe found among them a poor fisherman who was not \nashamed of his heavenly master, but boldly stood up \nand spoke in his name. Mr. Thomey also exhorts, and \nis endowed with both gifts and grace. This is done \nfrom house to house. We drew up rules as like Mr. \nWesley\'s as we could consistently with local circum- \nstances. Our number is about thirty, who I believe \nare sincere in heart.\'"* \n\nIn the spring of 1774, Mr. John Hoskins arrived \nfrom England and settled at Old Pelican, on the South \nshore of Trinity Bay. He had been a valued and \ndevoted local preacher in England, and proved a most \nimportant auxiliary to the little Church at Newfound- \nland. He introduced Methodism into Old Pelican, and \nhis success in preaching the gospel soon called forth, \nopposition from the friends of sin and satan, similar to \nthat encountered by Coughlan, Stretton, and Thomey, \nat Harbour Grace. Among other opprobrious epithets, \n" the term \' swaddler,\' then lately imported from Ire- \nland, t was applied to the Methodists with great eclat.^ \nMeantime, the word of the Lord grew and prevailed in \nspite of the most formidable opposition; and in 1779 a \ngreat revival of religion took place in Old Pelican and \n\n* Methodist Magazine. 1851, p. 870. + See page 41. \nX Rev. "W. Wilson, MS. letter. \n\n\n\n226 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nthe neighbourhood, in which John Hoskins, jun., was \nconverted, with many others, which greatly strengthened \nthe infant Church. For thirteen years did these noble \nand devoted laymen watch over the societies which \nCoughlan had planted and watered, preaching and \nmeeting classes from Sabbath to Sabbath throughout \nthe country. They now resolved to write to Wesley \nfor a minister, and in the year 1784 Stretton sent a \nstirring letter, which drew forth the following response \nfrom Wesley : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n"London, February 25, 1785. \n"You did well in breaking through that needless \ndiffidence ; if you had written sooner you would have \nheard from me sooner. Although I have not been in \nLimerick for some years, yet I remember your father \nand mother well. They truly feared God when I con- \nversed with them. Be a follower of them, as they of \nChrist. \n\n" If that deadly enemy of true religion \xe2\x80\x94 Popery \xe2\x80\x94 is \nbreaking in upon you, there is no time to be lost, for it \nis far easier to prevent the plague, than to stop it. Last \nautumn Dr. Coke sailed from England, and is now \nvisiting the flock in the Midland Provinces of America, \nand settling them on the New Testament plan, to which \nthey all willingly and joyfully conform, being all united \nas by one spirit, so in one body. I trust they will no \nmore want such pastors as are after God\'s own heart. \nAfter he has gone through these parts, he intends (if \nGod permit) to "see the brethren in Nova Scotia, pro- \nbably attended with one or two able preachers, who will \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. 227 \n\nbe willing to abide there. A day or two ago I wrote \nand desired him, before he returned to England, to call \nupon our brethren also in Newfoundland, and perhaps \nleave a preacher there likewise. About food and \nraiment we take no thought. Our heavenly Father \nknoweth that we need these things, and he will provide. \nOnly let us be diligent and faithful in feeding his flock. \nYour preacher will be ordained. Go on in the name of \nthe Lord, and in the power of His might! You shall \nwant no assistance that is in the power of your affection- \nate friend and brother, \n\n" John Wesley. \n\n"To Mr. John Stretton, Harbour Grace, Newfoundland." \n\nCircumstances prevented Dr. Coke from visiting either \nNova Scotia or Newfoundland ; but Wesley, faithful to \nhis promise, at the ensuing Conference (1785) ap- \npointed J ohn M\'Geary a missionary to Newfoundland. \nM\'Geary was an Irishman, and thus Ireland gave the \nfirst Lay-preacher and the first Itinerant to both the \nUnited States and Eastern British America. His arrival \nis thus announced in a letter from Stretton to a \nfriend: \xe2\x80\x94 "In October, 1785, a preacher arrived here \nfrom London, sent by Mr. Wesley. His name is John \nM\'Geary, a good man and a good preacher. I hope he \nwill prove a blessing to this place (Harbour Grace.) \nWe wanted one wholly given to the work. A preacher \nshould not be entangled with the affairs of this life. \nIt has not been the desire of getting rich that has kept \nme here ; but I have been waiting to see the motion of \nthe incumbent cloud, and dare not desert my post until \n\n\n\n228 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\nlawfully discharged. Single and alone, the Lord has \nenabled me to withstand the whole place where I dwell, \nand I am still preserved by the power of God. Who- \never seeks ease or comfort is not likely to meet much \nof either in this island. Blessed be God who has so \nwonderfully kept and supported me for many years in \nthis dreary region ! When I have been weak, then was \nI strong."* M\'Geary laboured with great fidelity, and \nin 1787, two years after his arrival in Newfoundland, \n100 members are returned for that mission. He had \nthe entire Island for his Circuit, till 1791, when we \nfind him appointed for Carbonear, and the number of \nmembers 150. During the summer of 1791 he was \ncheered by the arrival of the Eev. William Black, the \napostle of Methodism in Nova Scotia, whose visit to \nCarbonear and Harbour Grace was made a distinguished \nblessing. " I have been weeping before the Lord," said \nM\'Geary, "over my lonely situation and the darkness \nof the people, and your coming is like life from the \ndead."t M\'Geary returned to England in 1792, and \nretired from the Connexion in 1793. \n\nPassing by several honoured names from England \nand the United States, Ireland gave to Newfoundland \nanother noble missionary in 1804, John Eemnington, \nwho laboured with great success for six years. The \ngreat majority of the men composing the present \n\n* Wesleyan Magazine, 1851, p. 872. \n\nt See Memoir of the Rev. William Black, hj Matthew Kichey, \nD.D., one of the prominent men Irish Methodism has given to \nEastern British America. \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. 229 \n\nIrish. Conference, know no tiling of Mr. Eemnington \nbeyond his name, but his memory and character are \nvery dear to the fathers of the Conference, with some of \nwhom he travelled after his return. Eev. William \nWilson, of Eastern British America, thus speaks of \nhim : \xe2\x80\x94 "Mr. Eemnington was a man of unquestionable \npiety, of great simplicity of manners, and enjoyed un- \ninterrupted communion with God. He was a lover of \nmusic, and a good singer. He taught our people a num- \nber of old English tunes, and would enliven the prayer- \nmeetings with some revival melody. In a manner truly \nenchanting he would sing that now almost obsolete \nhymn \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n* Come saints and sinners liear me tell, \nThe wonders of Immanuel ; \nWho saved me from a burning hell, \nAnd brought my soul with him to dwell, \nAnd gave me heavenly union. \' \n\n"He extended our missions to the Harbour of Trinity, \nwhere, for many years, his name was a household word, \nand in the hearts of all who knew him his memory was \nimperishable. jSTo man ever left the shores of New- \nfoundland more deeply regretted than was John Eem- \nnington. He sailed from Trinity at midnight, and that \nevening was a sorrowful vigil with his friends. Just as \nhe was about to leave the house, amidst the tears and \nsobs of many, he sung \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n1 Now here\'s my heart, and here\'s my hand, \nTo meet you in that heavenly land, \nWhere we shall part no more. \' \n\n\n\n230 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OF \n\n\n\n"A little "before his death, he said to his family, \' \nbe a family of prayer! Come, come, I want you all in \nheaven.\' His sorrowing wife replied, \'You will soon \nhave the victory.\' She inquired, \'Is the Saviour \nprecious?\' \'Yes,\' said he, \'very, very precious.\' His \nlast words were, \' Farewell, all is well.\' He died, Nov. \n11, 1838, in the sixty-sixth year of his age, and the \nfortieth of his ministry."* \n\nIrish Methodism subsequently gave to Newfound- \nland Samuel Ellis and Samuel M\'Dowell, "both," \nsays Mr. Wilson, "noble and faithful men." Mr. \nM\'Dowell lived, in green and beautiful old age, till \nAugust, 1855, and closed his useful and honourable \ncareer in Belfast, greatly esteemed and beloved by his \nbrethren in the ministry. \n\nIt forms no part of my plan to trace the history of \nMethodism in Eastern British America, I aim merely at \nshowing the agency of Irish Methodism in laying its \nfoundations. Still there is one name which is connected, \n\n* Rev. W. Wilson, in Provincial Wesley an. \xe2\x80\x94 I never saw \nMr. Remnington, but the mention of his honoured partner in \nlife brings up vividly before my mind the image of one of the \nmost holy, useful /and devoted Christian ladies whom it has been \nmy privilege to know during my public life. When stationed \non the Coleraine Circuit, a few years since, with the Rev. George \nVance, one of our most valued leaders was Mrs. Remnington, \nand no one who was privileged to hear her speak at the Love- \nfeast, can ever forget her. She was a Methodist of the old- \nfashioned working type, whose heart was so full of love to Christ \nthat she could not but speak and work for him. Is this old- \nfashioned type of Methodism dying out ? \n\n\n\nMETHODISM IN EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. 231 \n\nin an interesting way, with Methodism in Newfound- \nland and in Ireland, which deserves, perhaps, some \nnotice before closing this chapter \xe2\x80\x94 the late Captain \nHedlet Yickers. His father, Captain Yickers, of the \nRoyal Engineers, was stationed at St. John\'s, Newfound- \nland, where he was induced to attend the ministry of \nthe late Rev. George Cubitt, of the British Conference. \nHe was light and trifling in his spirit, and somewhat \ndeistical in his sentiments, but under the powerful \nministry of Mr. Cubitt he saw and felt his guilt and \nalienation from God, and speedily rejoiced in a sense of \nthe pardoning and adopting love of God. He soon be- \ncame, like Captain Webb, a Methodist local preacher, \nand from our pulpit at St. John\'s, and elsewhere, dressed \nin full uniform, proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to his \nformer companions in vice and folly. He got married \nat St. John\'s, and the lady of his choice was a devoted \nMethodist. She was the mother of the late Captain \nHedley Yickers, of the far-famed "Ninety-seventh," \na circumstance which no doubt will go far to explain \nthe Christian character and services of young Yickers. \nMany years later the family of the elder Captain Yickers \nresided at Mullingar, Westmeath ; and the amiable \nCaptain himself and his wife, and young Hedley, were \nstated attendants at the Methodist Chapel, Mullingar, \nand felt that they had no cause to be ashamed of the \nChurch connected with which they found the Saviour. \nThe biographer of Hedley Yickers must of course have \nknown full well that he was the child of Methodist \nparents, and most deeply indebted to Methodist teach- \n\n\n\n232 IRELAND AND THE ORIGIN OP METHODISM, ETC. \n\ning and influence, both in Newfoundland and in Ireland ; \nand yet, copying the honourable example of the Rev. \nLeigh Richmond, in the " Dairyman\'s Daughter," most \ncarefully and studiously suppressed all reference to \nMethodism ! The book would not command a sale in \na certain market if it were a truthful biography. And \nthis, forsooth, is Christianity ! \n\nIn the Minutes of the British Conference for 1865, \nwe find the following statistics of the Eastern British \nAmerican Conference \xe2\x80\x94 Circuits, 109; Chapels, 212; \nother Preaching Places, 374; Ministers, 148; Subordi- \nnate Agents, 859 ; Members, 15,125 ; on trial for \nChurch Membership, 1772 ; Scholars in the Schools, \n13,255 ; Attendants on Public Worship, 54,875. It \nhas also an important and influential University, under \nthe Presidency of the Rev. Humphrey Pickard, D.D., \n\xe2\x80\x94 a name well known to many in Ireland. During the \nlast year the College was totally destroyed by fire ; but \nwith true Anglo-Saxon enterprise, arrangements were \nat once concluded for rebuilding it, with various im- \nprovements on the former plan, and the foundation of \nthe new edifice was laid by the Rev. Dr. George Scott, \nduring his recent visit as President of the Conference. \n"We could name but few divisions of the Methodistic \nfamily who have more of the family spirit, enterprise, \nand success, than the young and rising Conference of \nEastern British America. \n\n\n\nPL \n\nJrilanfc anir America. \n\n\n\n" It was an Irish Methodist minister who first introduced Methodism \ninto Eastern British America. It was the Irish Methodist Church that \ngave us our Butler, who planted Methodism in India. He came here, and \nremained with us long enough to receive some of our Yankee spirit ; and \nthen, in the true spirit of a Christian missionary, he went to that distant \nland, and with much toil, and in much sickness, and in much peril, he \nplanted American Methodism there, which has now become a plant of \nsturdy growth, and is giving to millions of those benighted and perishing \nheathens the fragrance and the fruit of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour \nJesus Christ. The fact is, that wherever English-speaking Methodism \nexists out of England, it has been planted by Irishmen ; and English- \nspeaking Methodism is Irish Methodism the world over. I call, therefore, \nupon English-speaking Methodism, everywhere, to sustain Ireland now in \nthe time of her trial, and in this season of her enlarged activity. " \xe2\x80\x94 Speech \noj Rev. Bishop Janes, at the Centenary Meeting at St. Paul\'s Church, New \nYork. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII. \n\n\n\nCONCLUDING CHAPTER\xe2\x80\x94 IRISH METHODISM, ITS PECULIAR DIFFI- \nCULTIES AND SUCCESS \xe2\x80\x94 IRELAND\'S POLITICAL TROUBLES \xe2\x80\x94 THE \nHAND OF GOD IN EMIGRATION \xe2\x80\x94 DR. M\'CLINTOCK\'s VISIT TO \nHIS FAMILY HOMESTEAD IN TYRONE \xe2\x80\x94 ENGLISH AND AMERI- \nCAN SYMPATHY WITH IRELAND DURING THE FAMINE \xe2\x80\x94 IRE- \nLAND\'S SYMPATHY WITH AMERICA DURING THE REBELLION \nOF THE SLAVE POWER \xe2\x80\x94 BISHOP JANES\' SPEECH ON THE DEBT \nOF AMERICAN METHODISM TO IRELAND \xe2\x80\x94 SUCCESS OF THE \nIRISH GENERAL MISSION IN DEALING WITH POPERY\xe2\x80\x94 DISCON- \nTINUED FOR WANT OF FUNDS \xe2\x80\x94 PRESENT DANGER OF ENGLISH \nAND AMERICAN PROTESTANTISM FROM IRISH POPERY \xe2\x80\x94 DR. \nWYLIE\'S REMARKS ON IRELAND AS A SOURCE OF STRENGTH \nTO THE PAPACY\xe2\x80\x94 DR. MANNING ON THE TRIUMPHS AND \nPROGRESS OF POPERY IN GREAT BRITAIN\xe2\x80\x94 DR. BROWNLEE ON \nPOPERY IN THE UNITED STATES\xe2\x80\x94 PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS \xe2\x80\x94 \nSPECIAL EFFORTS FOR THE CONVERSION OF IRISH ROMANISTS \nIN ENGLAND AND AMERICA \xe2\x80\x94 IRISH METHODISM AND WANT \nOF CAPITAL \xe2\x80\x94 GREAT LIBERALITY OF IRISH METHODISM \xe2\x80\x94 \nWHAT IT MIGHT DO IF ADEQUATELY SUPPORTED. \n\n13EFORE closing this little book and sending it \n\xe2\x96\xa0 abroad, I feel that I should embrace this opportu- \nnity of saying a few words on the claims of Irish \nMethodism on English-speaking Methodism everywhere, \nbut particularly in America. This book has already \noutgrown my original idea very much, and these part- \ning words, in taking leave of the indulgent reader, \nmust be few. No one, I think, can fully understand \n\n\n\n236 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\nthe peculiar position and difficulties of Irish Metho- \ndism, who has not spent some years in the Itinerancy \nin Ireland, and seen Methodism in all the Provinces, \nand from behind the scenes as well as from without. \nIf we are to estimate power by the difficulty which it \nsurmounts in its victorious march, I may be allowed to \nthink that Irish Methodism will compare favourably \nwith any branch of the great Wesley an family in any \npart of the world. Nowhere has it had more stern and \nformidable external difficulties. In the North it has \nwon tens of thousands of converts to its glorious doc- \ntrine of General Redemption, and this, notwithstand- \ning the most organized and persevering opposition from \nthe most ultra type of Calvinism to be found, perhaps, \nin any part of our world. It has not only made itself \nknown in all the principal towns in Ulster, but felt too, \nand its influence in liberalising the tone of Calvinistic \npreaching and theology, has been incalculable. In the \nSouth and West it has been confronted and opposed by \nHigh Church influence, backed by enormous wealth, \naristocratic pride, and indomitable prejudice ; and \neverywhere, popery, like a fearful Upas tree, sus- \ntained by tens of thousands of pounds from the purse \nof Protestant England (tell it not in Gath, pub- \nlish it not in the streets of Askelon!) has opposed its \nprogress. Meantime, without national endowment, \nwithout foreign assistance deserving of notice, it has \nnot only maintained its position throughout the land, \nbut has a stronger position, in proportion to the popu- \nlation now, than at any former period of its history. \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n237 \n\n\n\nAnd never had it a more noble, true-hearted, and enter- \nprising band of sons and daughters the \\t the present \nhour, and this after having given at leas Jive times its \npresent ministerial staff to the ranks of our ministry in \nEngland, the United States, the Canadas, Eastern \nBritish America, Australia, and various parts of our \nforeign mission field, and perhaps ten times the number \nat present enrolled in its membership. Suppose the \npolitico-religious circumstances of the country had been \ndifferent, so that its sons and daughters were not driven \nby the stern hand of necessity to seek a home in a foreign \nland, would not Irish Methodism be, in proportion to \nthe population, by far the most powerful section of the \nMethodist family on this side of the Atlantic 1 ? \n\nBut this emigration, over which we mourn from year \nto year, is doubtless overruled for great good to other \nlands, in the wise Providence of God. Eacts like those \nnoted in this book ought thoroughly to animate Irish \nMethodism, and lead its rising sons and daughters to \nrally anew around that noble banner which our fathers \ncommitted to our hands. If we are faithful, the dark- \nest chapter in the history of Methodism in Ireland will \none day shine with a lustre peculiar to itself. Mean- \ntime, emigration has established a peculiar sympathy \nbetween Ireland and America. During Dr. M\'Clintock\'s \nvisit to his family homestead in the County Tyrone, he \nwent into a poor cabin, inhabited by a poor widow in \nthe decline of life. A friend, who accompanied him, \nhappened to say that he was from America. Instantly \nthe old woman\'s fading eye brightened as in the days \nQ \n\n\n\n238 IRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\nof her youthful prime, and she said, "America? ah, \nthen, sir, do you know our Eliza 1 ?" We smile at the \nsimplicity of this poor woman, but there is scarcely a \nhomestead in Ireland but has its representative in the \nfar West, and scarcely a family some member of which \ndoes not sleep beneath the green sward of America ! \nThis sympathy will serve to explain the deep interest \nfelt in America towards Ireland during the famine of \n1846, 1847; and the noble contributions which she \nsent for the relief of the destitute and the dying, while \nthat dark cloud hung over our unhappy land. What- \never faults Ireland may have, ingratitude is not one of \nthem; and the noble generosity of America at that hour \nof distress, will never be forgotten in Ireland. Irish \nEomanists understood full well, that in the hour of \ntheir extremity, relief came not from Popish Austria, \nor Popish Spain, or Popish Prance, or Popish Italy; \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe Pope parted with not a farthing to save millions of \nhis famishing subjects;\' \xe2\x80\x94 but from Protestant England, \nScotland, and especially America. \n\nThe same thought will help us to understand the pro- \nfound interest manifested in Ireland for the great \nEepublic during its recent noble struggle with the \nslave power. I think, nowhere out of America, was \nthe real question more fully understood; nowhere was \nthe progress of the Eederal cause watched with more \nprofound interest, and nowhere was the joy more deep \nand general when the first note of victory came, and \nthe Stars and Stripes waved proudly in the breeze over \nthe Eepublic unbroken and free ! \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n239 \n\n\n\nAnd if there is a peculiar sympathy "between Ireland \nand America, in a social point of view as the result of \nemigration, the same cause will explain the sympathy \nbetween Irish and American Methodism. Irish Metho- \ndism is the parent of Methodism on the great American \nContinent, as we have seen, and may well thank God \nand take courage as it surveys transatlantic Methodism \nin this memorable Centenary year; but it has done far \nmore than give existence to American Methodism. It \nhas given it ministers like John Summerfield, John \nNewland Mafpitt, and John Kenneday among the \ndead, who attracted national attention, and won national \nfame; and like Dr. Elliott, Dr. M\'Clintock, and \nBishop Simpson, to name no others amongst the living; \nand hence we are not surprised at the noble gift from \nAmerican Methodism to our College in Belfast. It is \nbut an instalment of the vast debt American Methodism \nowes to Ireland. As Bishop Janes said in his speech \nat New York, when speaking on the claims of Ireland, \n"But Ireland not only furnished the first Methodist \nMinisters to this country, she has continued to furnish \nthem until this day. We cannot enter into particulars \nhere. I will give you an illustration. I ask, what does \nMethodism in New York and its vicinity owe to the \ncharming and almost heavenly sweetness with which \nSummerfield preached Christ and him crucified to the \npeople here 1 How much does our Church in this city \nand elsewhere owe to the able, devoted, and earnest \nministry of Thomas Burch 1 What is our indebtedness \nto the naturally graceful, pathetic eloquence with which \n\n\n\n240 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\nJohn Kenned ay proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation \nto us and to our fathers 1 Now, I do not know that \nNew York and its vicinity have been more favoured \nin this respect than other parts of our Church and \ncountry. And if this be true, that Ireland has fur- \nnished to our. connection such a ministry as this of \nwhich I have spoken, how immense is our obligation \nto Irish Methodism for this boon 1 And at the present \nday how much is the element of Irish character in our \nministry 1 \n\n" I cannot detain you to-night to speak of the \ndifferent men whose names come up before me. A \nReddy of the Oneida Conference ; an Irwin of the \nBlack River Conference ; a Hill of the Iowa Confer- \nence ; a Haney of the Central Illinois Conference ; and \nall over the land they come up before my mind \xe2\x80\x94 men \nof character, ability, devotion, usefulness, and power \nin the Church. Dr. Scott, when in this country, \nascertained the names of two hundred and forty \nministers from Ireland who are now labouring in our \nitinerant work.* \n\n" And it is not only in the ministry that we have \nthus been aided by the parent Church, but also in the \nlaity. I doubt whether there is a single Board of \nTrustees of the Church in this city that has not an \nIrishman in it. I doubt whether there is a Board of \n\n* I am satisfied that there are more than twice this numher. \nA document by Professor Leavitt, printed in 1858, now lies \nbefore me, in which he says that there were four hundred then. \nThere were many whose names Dr. Scott could not ascertain. \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n241 \n\n\n\nStewards or a Board of Leaders, that has not Irish \nbrethren in its ranks. Go to our Local Preachers\' \nAssociations, and you will find in all of them men of \ntalent, fidelity, and usefulness, who are local preachers \nfrom Ireland, as was Embury. And then if we go to \nthe children of Irish Methodists who have come to this \ncountry \xe2\x80\x94 the second generation \xe2\x80\x94 how much more use- \nful, and how exceedingly useful are they among us \nin the laity and in the ministry ! Why, if my memory \nserves me right, when in Ireland last summer, I heard \nthe people there talking about the grave of the grand- \nparents of Dr. M\'Clintock ; and, if I mistake not, I \nheard them talking about the ancestral home of Bishop \nSimpson. Ireland is on the platform here to-night ; \nand not only have we received ministers and laymen, \ngood men and good women, in the Church, but these \nmen have contributed to the financial strength of the \nChurch. They have helped to build our churches, to \nendow our colleges, and to sustain our ministry ; and \nif we were to pay them back the hundred thousand \ndollars in full, I doubt whether we should even pay the \ninterest on the money which they have put into our \ntreasury."\'* \n\nFurther, are not both England and America in great \ndanger from Irish Popery just now ? And is it not the \ndictate of ordinary prudence and self-interest, as well \nas Christianity, to strengthen the hands of Methodism \n\n* From speech of Bishop Janes at the Centenary Meeting, at \nSt. Paul\'s Church, New York, and copied in the "Irish Evan- \ngelist" for April, 1866. \n\n\n\n242 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\nin Ireland \xe2\x80\x94 the only agency that has yet told to any \nserious extent upon the Irish Eoman Catholic mind 1 \nIn 1799 \xe2\x80\x94 the year after the last Popish Eebellion, \nwhile the smoke of that fearful conflagration was still \nascending \xe2\x80\x94 the Irish Conference projected the first \norganised mission ever attempted in Ireland, with direct \nreference to the Eomanist population. Graham and \nOuseley, with an intrepidity which, I venture to think, \nhas been rarely surpassed in the history of the Church, \nvolunteered for this arduous mission, and from day to \nday preached in Irish on horseback, in the fairs and \nmarkets of the principal towns and populous villages in \nIreland. Speedily, priestly wrath waxed hot ; the \n" black caps " (as they were called) were denounced \nfrom the altar ; Ouseley had one of his eyes knocked \nout in the street ; and the mission was prosecuted at \nthe imminent danger of life. But still these noble \nevangelists, unmoved by fear, sublimely held on their \nway, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer \nshame and reproach in such a cause. The success of \nthis heroic mission was truly marvellous. At the Con- \nference of 1801, two years after its establishment, the \nfolio wing report was published by the Conference in its \nofficial record : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" What success has attended the Irish Missions in \nthe last year 1 \n\nA. \xe2\x80\x94 " I. In respect to the Northern Mission. \n\n" 1st. The success of the Northern Mission has been \nvery considerable among the Eoman Catholics. \n\n" 2nd. Its usefulness has been almost unbounded in \nstirring up the Protestants, and has been the \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n243 \n\n\n\nmeans, jointly with the labours of the regular \npreachers, in the conversion of vast numbers. \n" II. In respect to the Western Mission [Connemara, \n&c] \n\n" 1st. In various places in the West, many hundreds, \nand frequently thousands, of the Roman Catholics \nhave attended the preaching of the missionaries ; \nand if weeping, trembling, and falling down in \nthe streets, be marks of being awakened, or at \nleast of being deeply affected, great good has been \ndone in this quarter. \n\n" 2nd. Considerable good has been done by this \nMission amongst the Protestants. Very many \nwere stirred up, and a considerable number con- \nverted to God in consequence of the Mission. \n\n"III. In respect to the Southern Mission [Co. \nLimerick, Dingle, &c] \n\n"1st Yery large congregations of Roman Catholics \nattended the missionaries in general in the streets, \nand many of them also followed the missionaries \nto our preaching-houses. Some were much \naffected. \n\n" 2nd. In the city of Limerick and the neighbouring \ncountry, multitudes of the Eoman Catholics heard \nwith attention. Many appeared to be truly \nawakened, and there was every appearance of a \ngood work ; but the missionaries being obliged to \nleave those parts, their success could not be \nfollowed up."* \n\n* Minutes of the Irish Conference, vol. I., p. 137-138. See \nalso the Irish Evangelist for August, 1865. \n\n\n\n244 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\nDr. Coke was the father of this mission, and for \nmany years collected, principally in England, the funds \nnecessary for its support. The number of missionaries \nemployed from year to year varied with the amount \nreceived for this special object. The Irish Conference \nseem to have had any number of volunteers who were \nprepared to join the ranks of " the cavalry preachers" \n\xe2\x80\x94 the legio tonans of the Church. Young men on \ntrial, like John Nelson (who still lives with us, with \na full share of the fire of the early Itinerancy \xe2\x80\x94 and \nlong may he live !) joined the corps with holy enthu- \nsiasm, and a year or two on the " General Mission" was \nregarded as the most effective training for our regular \nwork.* Many might not feel disposed to think much \nof so desultory a mode of warfare, and perhaps would \npredict that but little tangible success would result from \nit. But this would be a very hasty and one-sided con- \nclusion. There was far more organisation than was \napparent ; converts joined the Church in those localities \nwhere we had a society, and classes of the newly \nawakened and converted were formed where we had \nnot \xe2\x80\xa2 so that within a few years of the establishment of \n\n* I am reminded, as 1 write this, of old Thomas Brown, one \nof the veterans of that period, of whom I often heard my father \nspeak. He was in the regular work at the time to which I \nrefer, and had a young man in his first year of service appointed \nwith him. The day of the young brother\'s arrival was market- \nday, and Brown at once accompanied him to the centre of the \nmarket. He met one of the leaders in the street, and after \nintroducing the new preacher, dryly said, "lam going to try \nthis lad in the market, come and see how he will do!" \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n245 \n\n\n\nthis Mission, Dr. Coke reported about seven hundred \nconverts from Romanism, who were then enrolled in \nregular membership with our Church. And this was \nbut a small part of the result ; thousands of the \nawakened left the country, and found an asylum in the \nUnited States and Canada, where many of them subse- \nquently were converted, and some entered our ministry.* \nHow sad to think that, while the fields all around were \nwhite unto the harvest, challenging the friendly sickle \nand the vigorous arm, this noble Mission was allowed \nto languish, and ultimately to die, for want of funds ! \n\nFor many years this agency, so signally owned of God, \nwas abandoned, and a new generation of Romanists \ngrew up around us, with reference to whom our ordi- \nnary appliances were comparatively useless, and now \nthese are thrown, in tens of thousands, upon the prin- \ncipal towns of England, Scotland, and America, to the \nimminent danger of our common Protestantism. Many \nin England and America, whose eye, perchance, may \nfall on this page, may smile at the idea of danger to \neither England or America from so contemptible a foe \nas Irish Popery. Eut they will allow me to say, that \nthoughtful men in Ireland regard their apathy and \napparent insensibility to danger, as about the gravest \naspect of the case. May I beg of them to read thought- \nfully the following weighty sentences, from the pen of \none of the ablest men of the day, and who has made \nthe Eomish controversy a life-long study. \n\n" We are disposed to view the whole state and con- \n* As the Rev. Dr. Cooney of Canada. \n\n\n\n246 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\ndition of the Irish race as presenting a ground of \ngreater anxiety to the friends of truth, and a source of \ngreater peril to the Protestantism of the empire, and, \nindeed, to the Christianity of the world, than any other \nthat at this moment exists on the face of the earth. In \nthe degradation of that race the Church of Eome has \nfound a lever of tremendous power for aggrandizing \nherself. What that Church accomplished in other \ndays by the arms of France, by the wealth of Spain, \nby the statesmanship of Italy, she is now doing, and \ndoing more successfully, by means of the mental de- \nbasement and physical destitution of Ireland. In \nshort, Ireland in her hands has become a great Mis- \nsionary institute. The swarms of emigrants in rags, \nwhich are cast upon our shores, which crowd our cities, \nwhich burrow in our poorhouses, and swelter in our \njails, are just the missionaries which that great institute \nis sending forth to spread the superstition and the domi- \nnion of Eome over the empire. No weapon comes wrong \nto the hand of Eome ; and, while dreading her power, as \nwell we may, we are compelled to admire the genius of \na church which can so adapt her policy to every age, \nand to all countries. \n\n" That Church has seen deeper into the matter of \nIrish destitution than any of us. True, she has raised \na mighty outcry about that destitution : she has made \nthe world resound with her lamentations over the \nsufferings of the Irish race and the oppressions of \ntheir Saxon tyrants. And she has managed to get \ncredit for full sincerity in her well-simulated sorrow. \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n247 \n\n\n\nMost men have thought that the Church of Eome was \nin very deed overwhelmed by the sight of a race so \ndegraded and so miserable ; and that, if the priesthood \nhad the power, by word or sign, of annihilating that \nmisery, it would be instantly ended, and to-morrow\'s \nsun would rise upon Ireland a nourishing and happy \ncountry; \xe2\x80\x94 trade filling its cities, cultivation clothing \nits fields, and abundance of bread gladdening all its \ndwellings. We must take leave to doubt whether, \nthough the priesthood could simply by a word change \nIreland into a happy country, they would speak that \nword. Have the priesthood a motive to annihilate the \nmisery of Ireland ? Have they not rather a motive to \nperpetuate it ? Were they to annihilate the degrada- \ntion of the Irish race, would they not to a large extent \nshear the locks of their own strength, and dry up a \nsource of power which far transcends any other instru- \nmentality at this hour in possession of their Church, \nfor spreading their superstition and ascendancy over \nthe earth ? \n\n" Let us illustrate our point by taking a single in- \nstance. "We all know that among the other orders of \nmen in her service Eome keeps an order of monks, \nlor some of her clergy she provides a splendid palace, \na luxurious table, and a robe of purple. Others she \nattires in a hair shirt, a girdle with iron spikes, and, \nthrowing a wallet over their shoulders, she sends them \nforth with naked foot and shaven crown, to beg from \ndoor to door. That mendicant monk renders as effec- \ntual service to the cause of the Church as that princely \n\n\n\n248 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\ncardinal. The cloak of serge and pilgrim\'s staff of the \none is as essential to the good of the general body as \nthe purple robe and gilded chariot of the other. And \nwhy may not that Church, which serves her interests \nso effectually by maintaining this gradation and variety \namong her clergy, serve her interest no less effectually \nby maintaining a similar gradation and variety among \nthe nations subject to her ? Why may not that Church \nfind it for the general good to keep a mendicant nation ? \nIreland is that nation. The Irish are the monks of the \nPapal world. She takes them fresh from the sod, all \nunwashed as they are ; and, without putting a single \npatch upon their garments, or a single loaf in their \nwallets, she sends them forth \xe2\x80\x94 their outer man all \naflutter with rags, and their inner man all on fire with \nzeal \xe2\x80\x94 to beg, for the love of the Virgin, and the glory \nof the Church, among the wealthy heretical nations of \nChristendom. \n\n"We all know the sad history of those poor Italian \nboys whom we see at times in our streets. Torn from \nItaly, with the tint of Italy\'s sun upon their cheek, \nand the music of Italy\'s tongue upon their lip, they are \ncompelled to grind in our cities for their avaricious \nmasters. Rome is doing the same thing on a vastly \ngreater scale. She has taken the poor Irish race \xe2\x80\x94 so \namply endowed with native genius, so rich in generous \nsympathies, and in loving and trustful dispositions \xe2\x80\x94 \nand she is leading them about over the world to grind \nsad music indeed, and all for pennies to fill her coffers. \nMost indulgent mistress ! Most compassionate Church ! \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n249 \n\n\n\nWhen they have gathered a crowd, and attracted notice \nby their doleful strains, sung upon their harp, which \nhas so long been attuned only to sorrow, lifting up her \nvoice, she cries aloud, \' Behold the woes of this once \nglorious country ! pity the sorrows of this noble but \ndowntrodden race ! \' accompanying her words, the \nwhile, with floods of tears, as copious and as sincere as \never roiled down the cheek of crocodile. In this way does \nRome work her great mission institute ; for the real \npropaganda at this hour is not at Eome ; it is not at \nLyons ; it is in Ireland ; it is where the Atlantic \nsurge breaks high on the bleak coast of Galway, and the \nblack bog stretches drearily out to the horizon at \nConnemara. .... \n\n" These missionaries, too, are sent forth in that very \ncondition in which they are best fitted for doing her \nwork. All the blood she shed in the dark ages by the \nhands of her judges and executioners, was as nothing \ncompared with the blood she shed by the hands of the \nrabble. It was by the rabble, sometimes in the shape \nof mobs, sometimes in the shape of regular armies, that \nshe carried on her crusades and massacres from the \nthirteenth to the sixteenth century. And when blood \nshall again begin to flow in this country, the first \nshedding of it will be by the hands ol the rabble. \n\n"But the main use and service, meanwhile, of the \nIrish race, is to form a foothold for the Popish hierarchy \nall over the Protestant world. What is the key by \nwhich the Church has succeeded in opening the British \nExchequer, and drawing from it some three hundred \n\n\n\n250 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\nthousand pounds per year ? That key is the poor Irish. \nThis is the open sesame before which the golden doors \nof the Treasury fall back, and the riches of Britain are \npoured at the Church\'s feet. What is it that has \nenabled her to place her chaplains in the army and in \nour convict\' prisons 1 Still it is the Irish- \xe2\x80\x94 the Irish \nsoldier, the Irish criminal. On what pretext does she \ndemand paid chaplains in all our prisons 1 It is still \nthe Irish. I have given you, she says, so many crimi- \nnals, in return for these I demand so many gold guineas. \nWith these I will manufacture more criminals, which \nwill bring me more gold guineas. And thus the two \nkinds of manufacture go on most prosperously together. \nWhat is it that has given to her reformatories with their \nample endowments, grants of land and money in the \ncolonies, and schools from which the Bible is excluded \nin Western Canada ? What is it that is feeding the \nalready great mass of Popery in the valley of the \nMississippi, as well as in Australia 1 It is the Irish. \nYerily, in Irish destitution she has found a mine of \nexhaustless wealth, and of boundless power."* \n\nAm I wrong in saying that both Great Britain and \nAmerica are at the present hour in fearful danger from \nthe influx of Irish Popery 1 And are not the Maynooth \napostolical bachelors paying off Protestant England \nsmartly for her national apostacy from the God of her \nfathers 1 It is easy for liberal Protestants (so called) to \nsay, "we shall meet the crisis when it comes." " The \n\n* "Wylie on Rome and Civil Liberty. A Book for the Times, by \na Man of the Time, pp. 107-112. \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n251 \n\n\n\nCRISIS IS NOW, WHAT WILL COME WILL PROVE THE CATAS- \nTROPHE!" The progress of Popery in England and \nScotland in our day is truly alarming, and mainly \nthrough. Irish Priests and Irish Popery. Dr. Manning \nregards the ascendancy of Popery in England as so in- \nevitable, from her present position and prospects, that \nhe throws off the mask so long worn gracefully by his \nlying mistress, and in the face of Protestant England \navows the intention of the Popish Church to regain its \nancient ascendancy in England, and within a brief period \ntoo ! He says : \xe2\x80\x94 " It is the duty, therefore, of Catholics \nto prepare themselves for the future which is before \nthem. They little thought thirty years ago to be as \nthey are now. \n\n"They little thought ten years ago of the majestic ex- \npansion of the Catholic Church at this hour, and of its \ndignified attitude of calm in the midst of the religious \nconfusion and dissolution which is around it. Still \nless can we anticipate what the next ten years may \nbring. The advance of the Church is in geometrical \nprogression." * That this is not an idle boast, but sober \nmatter of fact, an appeal to statistics will prove. The \nsame thing is true, to an alarming extent, in the land of \nJohn Knox. "Throughout Scotland, in 1830, there \nwere not 50 Priests in all; there are now 200 \xe2\x80\x94 more \nthan 4 to 1 ! There were then but 25 Chapels in all; \nthere are now 200, besides the Cathedrals \xe2\x80\x94 8 to 1. \nThere were then no Convents; there are now 14. \nThere were then no Public Schools; there are now 102 \n* Essays on Religion and Literature. Edited by Dr. Manning. \n\n\n\n252 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\nin efficient working order"* In the light of these \nfigures, how suggestive the fact that one fifth of the \nentire population of Glasgow are Irish Romanists! \n\nI question if matters are much better or less alarm- \ning in the United States. The language of the late \nArchbishop Hughes (himself an Irish Priest), is not all \nidle boasting, as somesanguine Protestants mayimagine.t \nRome is playing her game well in America, as in Eng- \nland and Scotland, and Ireland is the right arm of her \nstrength there, as at home. " It has recently appeared \non good authority, that she is making it a special study \nhow to distribute little colonies of Catholics in all the \nnew territories, with a view to anticipate population, \nand get the start of the Protestants, and so pollute the \nwaters of truth at the fountains. These circumstances \nhave much, very much, to do with the emigration which \nis going on in Ireland. It is now clear that it is not \nmere want of bread that is prompting this continued \nstream of emigration. The priests deem Ireland safe, \nit is all their own. The object, therefore, of the priest- \nhood is, in conjunction with the Vatican, and in con- \ncurrence with the hierarchy of Ireland, as much as may \nbe, to draw off the water of this mighty lake of the \nPapacy to fill the new reservoirs being everywhere \ncreated across the Atlantic." J \n\n* Dr. Campbell on Popery, Ancient and Modern, p. 62. \n\n+ See The Decline of Protestantism and its Cause. A Lecture \ndelivered in St. Patrick\'s Cathedral, New York, by the Eev. \nJohn Hughes, D.D., Archbishop of New York. (New York : \nEdward Dunigan and Brother.) \n\nX Dr. Campbell\'s Popery, Ancient and Modern, p. 345. As \nthis sheet was passing through the press, Zion\'s Herald of \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n253 \n\n\n\nDr. Brown lee, of New York, in his masterly work \non Popery in America, says, " No great pains liave \nbeen taken to conceal the facts in this matter. We \nhave every evidence but the open confession of the con- \nspirators. Some of the prime movers have made strik- \ning avowals. Bishop England, in a circular published \nin Ireland, shows that there is an organised system of \nmeans in operation to throw in upon us immense bodies \nof Popish emigrants." Already, the authorities of \nmany important towns in England, Scotland, and \neven America, are intimidated by the Irish mob, insti- \ngated by the priests from behind the scenes. Thus \nstreet-preaching has been put down in many of our \nprincipal towns through fear of the mob ! Dr. Brownlee \nasks, " Who holds it in his power to let loose mobs on \nus at his will ?" "I told him," said the Lady Superior \non her oath, " that Bishop Pen wick\'s influence over \n10,000 brave Irishmen might lead to the destruction of \nhis property and that of others ! " \n\nAugust 15th came to haud from Boston, from which I copy the \nfollowing, which, though seriously exaggerated, is sufficiently \nstartling. "The Boston Pilot, a Roman Catholic paper, says \xe2\x80\x94 \nf But we are going to correct the Methodist statistics, so as to \nshoAV the Catholic increase in the period of time covered by the \nReport of the Committee of the Convention. From the best \ndata at hand, as we write, we find that while the Congregation- \nalists have been increasing but seven per cent., the Baptists \ntwelve per cent., and the Methodists forty-three per cent., the \nCatholics have increased three hundred and ninety-two per cent. \nWe think that this is under the actual fact, which we shall pro- \nceed to ascertain by the correct figures, as soon as we can ascer- \ntain them.\' " \nR \n\n\n\n254 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\nBut what is to be done ? The crisis is most serious, \nand demands the most prompt and vigorous action on \nthe part of the Methodist Church, both in England and \nAmerica. I think that our brethren in the various towns \nin England, Scotland, and America, where large masses \nof Irish Eomanists assemble, should organize a Mission- \nary Institute, including a controversial class, schools, \nand preaching, with direct reference to their conversion \nfrom Popery to Christ. "Why not 1 Are they afraid to \nencounter Irish Eomanism in a free Protestant country t \nLet them try it ; if nothing more comes of it, they will, \nat least, learn to sympathise with the difficulties of \nbearding the Hon in his own den. \n\nI think, moreover, that the " General Mission " of the \nIrish Methodist Conference should receive a generous \nsupport from our people, both in England and America. \nI see no reason why the Methodists of America should \nnot support a General Missionary for each of our \nProvinces, and believe that it would repay its cost to \nthemselves an hundred-fold. And why should we not \nbe supplied with ample means for acting aggressively \non the Eomish population at Oughterard, and else- \nwhere? Who is prepared to say that if Irish \nMethodism planted a Missionary Institute in some \ncentre of Irish Popery, and worked it as faithfully and \nperseveringly as our mission to Eigi, and expended as \nmuch money upon it, that it would not prove quite as \nproductive ? But the one is in the South Seas and the \nother in Ireland ; and " distance lends enchantment to \nthe view ! " During the past half century, we have \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n255 \n\n\n\nspent some hundreds of thousands of pounds in con- \ntending with Brahmin ism in India, though the influence \nof the gigantic superstition is not felt in the United \nKingdom, and the cause of Protestantism is in no \ndanger whatever from it. We still bravely persevere \nwithout much apparent result, endeavouring to under- \nmine the colossal fabric, and looking for the blessing of \nGod on the faithful use of the varied appliances brought \nto bear upon it. All this is reasonable and right ; \nwould to God we had ten times as much to expend \nupon India. But Ireland, \xe2\x80\x94 the last country in Europe \nwhose sons succumbed to the Man of Sin, and then only \nafter a fearful struggle with the united power of England \nand the Pope ; Ireland, \xe2\x80\x94 whose ragged Popish children \nswelter in thousands in all the principal towns in Great \nBritain and America, to the imminent danger of the \npublic peace and of the Protestant liberties secured by \nthe blood of our noble fathers ; Ireland, \xe2\x80\x94 the seat and \ncentre of the most indomitable type of the most indomi- \ntable and influential superstition the world ever saw, or \never will see, \xe2\x80\x94 is treated with comparative neglect ! \nEight dearly has Protestant Christendom paid for that \nneglect and folly in the past ; and right dearly, if I \nmistake not, will her children pay for it in the days \nthat are yet to come. \n\nBishop Janes asks \xe2\x80\x94 " Shall Methodists or Komanists \ncome to America from Ireland ?" This little book \nproves that Irish Methodism has no cause to be \nashamed of the children she has given to America. \nNot a few of them were won from the. ranks of the Man \n\n\n\n256 \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\nof Sin. These are but specimens of what she might do \non a large scale if adequately supported. The Irish \nMethodist Church I believe to be the most liberal \nsection of the Methodist family in Europe or America ; \nbut it is languishing for want of capital to embrace \npromising openings, and do justice to itself. Probably \nmore than half the chapels in Irish Methodism are \nwithout regular Sabbath preaching ; and in not a few \nthe circuit minister never preaches on the Sabbath day, \nand cannot. Fifty new preaching places might be \nopened on the circuit in which this book is written, \nand probably more than two hundred within the terri- \ntorial bounds of the District, within three months of the \nday on which I write this, if we had the ministerial \nlabour to work them. But already the circuit plans \nare full, many of the ministers preaching every night \nin the week, and three times on the Sabbath : and \nopening new ground is out of the question without ad- \nditional labourers. I have been in every county in \nIreland, from Eathlin Island, beyond the Giant\'s \nCauseway, to Cape Clear ; I know Ireland, I believe, \nas well as any one whose eye will fall upon this page ; \nand I here register my deliberate conviction that, \nMethodistically, Ireland is not one fourth worked, and \ncannot be with its present ministerial staff. If we had \na Home Missionary Institute, like that under the care \nof the Eev Charles Prest in England, and an income \nsay of from \xc2\xa32000 to \xc2\xa35000 per annum, we might \ndouble or treble our present membership in Ireland \nwithin a few years. And who can tell what the \n\n\n\nIRELAND AND AMERICA. \n\n\n\n257 \n\n\n\nresult would be upon the cause op protestant \nChristianity, (in the United Kingdom and through- \nout the World), when American Methodism cele- \nbrates her Second Centenary? \n\n\n\nI THINK the most remarkable chapter in Church \nHistory, in ancient or modern times, is supplied by \nthe History and Progress of American Methodism in \nthe past century. It forms no part of my design at \npresent to attempt a solution of the philosophy of its \nsuccess. The following statistics will give the reader \nthe best idea of the fact of its success ; if there be any \nparallel case in the history of the Church, I confess I \nhave not heard of it. I give these statistics on the \nauthority of the Rev. Dr. Stevens, of New York, and \nI believe that they are below, rather than above, the \ntrue figures. \n\n" Embury\'s little congregation of five persons, in his \nown house, has multiplied to thousands of societies, \nfrom the northernmost settlements of Canada to the \nGulf of Mexico \xe2\x80\x94 from Nova Scotia to California. The \nfirst small Conference of 1773, with its 10 preachers \nand its 1,160 reported members, has multiplied to 60 \nConferences, 6,821 Itinerants, 8,205 Local Preachers, \nand 928,320 Members in the Methodist Episcopal \nChurch alone,- exclusive of the Southern, the Canadian, \nand minor branches, all the offspring of the Church \nfounded in 1766, and episcopally organized in 1784. \n\n"It has property, in Churches and Parsonages, \namounting to about twenty-seven millions of dollars. \n\n" It has 25 Colleges and Theological Schools, with \nproperty amounting to $3,055,000; 158 Instructors, \n\n\n\nAPPENDIX. \n\n\n\n259 \n\n\n\n5,345 Students; and 77 Academies, with 556 Instruc- \ntors, and 17,761 Students; making a body of 714 In- \nstructors, and an army of 23,106 Students. \n\n"Its Church Property (Churches, Parsonages, and \nColleges, aside from its 77 Academies and Book Con- \ncern), amounts to thirty millions and fifty-five thousand \ndollars ! \n\n"Its Book Concern has a capital of $837,000; 500 \nPublishing Agents, Editors, Clerks, and Operatives, \nwith some thirty cylinder power presses in constant \noperation; about 2,000 different books on its catalogue, \nbesides tracts, &c. ; 14 Periodicals, with an aggregate \ncirculation of more than a million copies per month ! \nBesides the above, it has five Independent, or non- \nofficial weekly Papers, with immense circulation. \n\n" Its Sunday-School Union comprises 13,400 Schools; \nmore than 150,000 Instructors; nearly 918,000 pupils; \nand more than two millions and a half of library books ! \nIt issues nearly 2,500 publications, besides a monthly \ncirculation of nearly 300,000 numbers of its periodicals. \n\n"Its Missionary Society has 1,059 Circuits and Sta- \ntions; 1,128 Paid Labourers; and 105,675 Communi- \ncants. \n\n"The Methodist Episcopal Chuech, South, has \npublished no Statistics since the rebellion broke out ; \nit has doubtless suffered much by the war; but it re- \nported, the last year before the rebellion, nearly 700,000 \nChurch Members ; nearly 2,600 Itinerants, and 5,000 \nLocal Preachers. It had 12 periodical publications; \n12 Colleges, and 77 Academies, with 8,000 Students. \nIts Missionary Society sustained, at home and abroad, \nabout 360 Missionaries, and 8 Manual Labour Schools, \nwith nearly 500 Pupils. \n\n"According to these figures the two great Episcopal \ndivisions of the denomination have had, at their latest \nreports, 1,628,320 Members; 9,421 Travelling, and \n13,205 Local Preachers; with 191 Colleges and Acade- \nmies, and 31,106 Students. \n\n"The Canada "Wesleyan Church was not only \n\n\n\n260 \n\n\n\nAPPENDIX. \n\n\n\nfounded by, but for many years belonged to the Metho- \ndist Episcopal Church; it now reports more than \n56,000 Members; 500 Itinerant Preachers; and 750 \nSunday-Schools, with about 45,000 Pupils; a Univer- \nsity; a Female College ; and a Book Concern, with its \nWeekly Periodical. \n\n"Another branch of Canadian Methodism, the \n\'Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada,\' equally \nthe child of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the \nUnited States, reports, 3 Annual Conferences; 2 Bishops; \n216 Travelling, and 224 Local Preachers ; and 20,000 \nMembers; a Seminary and Eemale College, and a \nWeekly Newspaper. \n\n"The Canadian Wesley an Methodist New Con- \nnexion Church reports, 90 Travelling, and 147 Local \nPreachers; and 8,450 Communicants. It sustains a \nWeekly Paper, and a Theological School. \n\n"The other Methodist bodies in the United States \nare, the \' Methodist Protestant Church,\' the \' American \nWesleyan Methodist,\' the \'African Methodist Episco- \npal Church,\' and some three or four smaller sects ; this \naggregate membership amounts to about 260,000, their \npreachers to 3,423. \n\n"Adding the Travelling Preachers to the Member- \nship, there are now in the United States about \n1,901,164 Methodist communicants. Adding three \nnon-communicant members of its congregation for each \ncommunicant, it has under its influence 7,604,636 souls \n\xe2\x80\x94 between one fifth and one fourth of the whole \nnational population. \n\n"Aggregately there are now in the United States and \nCanada, as the result of the Methodism of 1766, \n1,972,770 Church Members, 13,650 Travelling Preach- \ners, 15,000 Local Preachers, nearly 200 Colleges and \nAcademies, and more than 30 Periodical Publications; \n1,986,420 Communicants, including Preachers, and \nnearly eight millions of people!* \n\n* These figures do not include Eastern British America. \n\n\n\nAPPENDIX. \n\n\n\n261 \n\n\n\n" The influence of this vast ecclesiastical force on the \nmoral, intellectual, and social progress of the New \nWorld, can neither be doubted nor measured. It is \ngenerally conceded that it has been the most energetic \nreligious element in the social development of the con- \ntinent. With its devoted and enterprising people dis- \npersed through the whole population ; its thousands of \nlabourious Itinerant Preachers, and tens of thousands of \nLocal Preachers and Exhorters ; its unequalled Publish- \ning Agencies ; and powerful Periodicals, from the Quar- \nterly Ee view to the child\'s paper; its hundreds of Colleges \nand Academies; its hundreds of thousands of Sunday \nSchool Instructors ; its devotion to the lower and most \nneedy classes; its animated mode of worship and reli- \ngious labour, it cannot be questioned that it has been a \nmighty, if not the mightiest, agent in the maintenance \nand spread of Protestant Christianity over these lands. \nIt stands now on the threshold of its second century, \nmightier than ever, in all the elements and resources \nrequisite for a still greater history."* \n\nThese figures are not only interesting as illustrative \nof the power of Methodism under favourable circum- \nstances, but they supply an argument to which there is \nno answer, as to the superiority of the Voluntary prin- \nciple as compared with the National Endowment System, \nin the maintenance and diffusion of religion. Here is a \nChurch \xe2\x80\x94 without any endowment but the blessing of \nGod on the consecrated brain and heart of its sons and \ndaughters \xe2\x80\x94 and within a single century it has risen from \nfive obscure persons, to influence and mould the cha- \nracter of about one fourth of the American population ! \nDr. Dixon tells us, "There are no Sects in America, no \nDissenters, no Seceders, or whatever other term may be \nemployed to designate the position and standing of a \nChristian Society. They are alike considered as Chris- \ntians; and adopting, according to the judgment of \ncharity, with equal honesty the common charter of sal- \nvation, the Word of God, they are treated as equal, \nand as possessing similar and indefeasible rights. \n\n* Centenary of American Methodism, 213-217. \n\n\n\n262 \n\n\n\nAPPENDIX. \n\n\n\n" This is certainly a new aspect of living and visible \nChristianity, and our business with it at present is to \ntest its operation on society. Can perfect liberty and \nequality in religion work well when favoured by circum- \nstances as in the United States 1 Is Christianity itself, \nin its own revelations, its own glorious platform and \nbasis, its own provisions and divinity, when made plain \nand put, into the hands of a people, sufficient without \nbeing formed and modified by the political society, to \nproduce its legitimate fruits 1 Is this common Chris- \ntianity, as taught and developed in Scripture, sufficient \nfor a nation? May the people of a State be safely left, \nother things being favourable, to this simple process 1 \nThis question is in course of solution in the United \nStates. So far as it has been tested, it is believed to \nhave answered."* \n\nThis was written nearly twenty years ago ; and Dr. \nDixon\'s questions were receiving an affirmative answer \nthen from the stern voice of fact, from which there was \nno appeal. But let anyone carefully examine the above \nfigures, published to the world in this Centenary year \nof American Methodism, and deny the transcendent \nsuperiority of the Voluntary System if he can. \n\nThe insinuation that religion is superficial in America \n\xe2\x80\x94 that it has lost in depth what it has gained in breadth \nand extent \xe2\x80\x94 is, in my judgment, a mistake or a slander. \nI give two testimonies out of many now under my hand, \nthat there is no truth whatever in this allegation; but \nthe religion in America will lose nothing by comparison \nwith any part of the United Kingdom. " For the first \ntime since its junction with the State, has Christianity \nbeen thrown upon its own imperishable resources in the \nmidst of a great people. And has it suffered from its \nnovel position 1 Who accuses the Americans of being \nan irreligious people 1 Nay, rather, who can deny to \nthem, as a people, a pre-eminence in religious fervour \nand devotion 1 ? .... Taking the country as a \nwhole, the religious sentiment is more extensively \ndiffused, and more active in its operation in America, \n\n\n\n* Dixon\'s Methodism in America, p. 145, 147. \n\n\n\nAPPENDIX. \n\n\n\n203 \n\n\n\nthan in Great Britain. What then becomes of the sinis- \nter prediction of those who assert that a State Connec- \ntion is necessary to the vigorous maintenance of Christi- \nanity 1 ... Is proof of the vitality and energy of \nreligion wanted % Look at the number of its churches, \nthe extent and character of its congregations, the fre- \nquency of its religious assemblies, the fervour of its \nreligious exercises, and the devotion of its religious \ncommunity, testified by their large and multifarious \ndonations for religious purposes both at home and \nabroad."* \n\nThis testimony from an impartial witness \xe2\x80\x94 an able \nand accomplished barrister \xe2\x80\x94 must be regarded as most \nsatisfactory as to religion generally in the United States. \nThe following is Bishop Janes\' testimony as to Metho- \ndism in particular. "Does the Methodist Episcopal \nChurch retain its simplicity and spirituality? Is it \nbeing built up with living stones ? Is it a spiritual \nhouse, a holy priesthood, offering up spiritual sacrifices \nacceptable to God through Jesus Christ 1 We cannot \nsearch the hearts or discern the spirits of our brethren. \nWe can only judge from outward signs, and even thus \nwith great carefulness. Most of our members bring \nforth the fruits of good living. They testify, in class- \nmeetings, and love feasts, and on other suitable occa- \nsions, to their enjoyment of God\'s pardoning mercy and \nadopting love, many of them of his sanctifying power. \nOur people, almost uniformly, prefer spiritual Scriptural \npreaching. We are favoured with frequent and exten- \nsive revivals ; and we can and do feel and say, \' The \nbest of all is, God is with us.\' As to the future, our \nsuccess is likely to be greater than ever."t \n\n* Mackay\'s Western World, vol. III., pp. 252, 254. \n\n+ Bishop Janes\' Address before the British Conference, 1865. \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\nBY THE SAME AUTHOR. \n\n\n\nI. \n\n\n\nLately Published, Second Edition, 174 Pages, Crown 8vo,Cloth, \nPrice 2/6. \n\n\n\nof the Rev. Willam Ceook, late Senior Minister of the \nIrish Methodist Conference, containing : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nThe Address in the Centenary Chapel, Dublin, by the Rev. \nRobert Masaroon, D.D. ; the Address in Maryborough, by \nthe Rev. John F. Mathews ; the Funeral Sermon, by the \nRev. Joseph W. M \'Kay, and a copious Sketch of his Life and \nCharacter. Edited by his eldest son, the Rev. William Crook. \n\n"Appropriate and touhcing memorials of a man who was \nbeloved and venerated by multitudes. The \' Sketch \' is truly \ncharacteristic ; drawn by a filial hand, but faithfully. It com- \nprises no little of the history of our Hibernian work, which is \nrelated with many a sparkle of the writer\'s vivacity." \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley an \nMethodist Magazine. \n\n\' * The Rev. William Crook was a noble specimen of sanctified \nhumanity ; robust in constitution, decided in piety, inflexible \nin principle, fervent in spirit, vigorous in intellect, and abundant \nin labour, for nearly half a century he was an eminent and suc- \ncessful minister of Jesus Christ. The tributes which affection \nhas paid to his memory are but a just appreciation of his excel- \nlencies ; and the Sketch of his Life and Character, furnished by \nhis intelligent and devoted son, has the charm of graphic and \nlife-like delineation, flushed with the delicate hues of tender \nfilial affection. It will be read with peculiar interest and \nspiritual profit." \xe2\x80\x94 Methodist New Connexion Magazine. \n\n" A beautiful book in every point of view , It relates to a man \nwhom I esteemed and loved from the time of our first acquaint- \nance. My visits to Ireland led me to form a high opinion of \nthe Irish preachers generally ; but no one made a more deep \nand favourable impression upon my heart than the honoured \nsubject of this Sketch." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Thomas Jackson. \n\n\' \' Valuable and well-arranged reminiscences of my ever dear \nand honoured friend, your late Father, and will form a suitable \nintroduction to a larger history which I hope that you will by \nand by find time to give the Church." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Br. Hannah. \n\n\n\n<\xc2\xa3rjxe J, mural Serbia: \n\n\n\n\n\'\xe2\x96\xa0B on the occasion of the Death \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\n"A "beautiful and soul-refreshing Memoir. I read it with the \ndeepest interest, and with real profit. It is a Sketch admirably- \ndrawn of one who was eminently good, and really great in his own \nway." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Joseph Hargreaves. \n\n"I have read the work with much interest and profit, as the \nrecord of the life of a good man, and as giving much valuable \ninformation relative to a very interesting period of the history \nof Methodism in Ireland." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Dr. Cummings, President of \nthe Wesley an University, Middletown, U. S. \n\n" This volume belongs to a class of biography of which we are \nin no danger of having too many. . . . . . His colleagues \n\nare always mentioned, and, except in the case of survivors, a \nbrief estimate of their character is given. Most of them were not \nonly true men, but noble and great men. If they are specimens \nof the sons Ireland furnishes to Methodism, English Methodism \nmay be proud of its daughter. The excellent man has found a \nworthy biographer in his eldest son. Though the book is only \njust issued, we learn that a second edition is called for. We \nwonder not. We have here a little casket of biographic gems of \nIrish Methodism." \xe2\x80\x94 Methodist Recorder. \n\n"The \' Sketch,\' from the opening to the closing page, bears so \nprominently the marks of reverential affection, blended with \ncandour and fidelity, as at once and throughout disarms criticism. \nThe scenery is so diversified, and portrayed in such a graphic and \nlively style, as to carry the reader eagerly along, and regret will \nbe felt on reaching the end, that it has not been somewhat more \namplified. We have seldom met, within the same space, so much \nof the philosophy of biography. \' \'\xe2\x80\x94Rev. , in Irish Evangelist. \n\n1 1 The incidents of his life are sketched with skill, in which \nfilial love and reverence, and a scrupulous fidelity, are conspicuous \nfeatures. Additional interest is imparted to this portion of the \nvolume, by the references it contains to the labours of other \nMethodist preachers, of whom little is now known except their \nnames, and the brief records found in the Minutes of Conference. \n. . . . The whole volume is most creditable to those who \nhave engaged in this most befitting labour of love, and warmly \ndo we commend it to all interested in the work of God." \xe2\x80\x94 \nWesleyan Sunday-School Magazine. \n\n"The Sketch of his Life and Character which accompanies the \nable Addresses and Sermon by the Revs. E. Masaroon, John \nF. Mathews, and J. W. M\'Kay, is a life-like portraiture of this \nvenerable man. We warmly commend the book to those of our \nreaders interested in Irish Methodism." \xe2\x80\x94 Christian Miscellany. \n\n"To me this interesting little volume was quite panoramic. \nI ran over nearly sixty years since we first met at the Belfast \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\nDistrict, in May, 1807, and lived anew with a host of men worthy \nto be had in everlasting remembrance. " \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Thomas Waugh. \n\n"I greatly admire the vivacity and nerve of this book. The \nportrait is very true, though drawn with a loving hand. I am \nnot surprised to hear of a Second Edition in so short a time. It \nwell deserves it." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. James Tobias, Secretary of the Conference. \n\n"To my mind, the noblest attribute of any composition is \npower, and the most glorious of all power is power for good. \nThis the volume has. I do not envy the man who could read it \nwithout feeling the depths of his heart stirred." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. James \nC. Bass. \n\n\' \' I have read this volume with deep interest and much profit. \nI think the narrative is admirably executed, the subject is made \nto speak for himself. It is simple, unadorned, and marks the \nidiosyncrasies of his character well. " \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Dr. Appelbe. \n\n"I have perused this volume with great interest, and, I trust, \nnot a little profit. He well deserved such a tribute, not only \nfrom his family, but from us as a people ; and this book is \ncreditable to both. The interest one feels in the portrait, when \nseen only with groups of his itinerant contemporaries in the \nbackground, is greatly heightened by the introduction of the \nfamily scenes. I have no doubt that it will be extensively read \nin Ireland, and beyond it." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Dr. Robinson Scott. \n\n\' \' This very handsome volume contains \' The Funeral Services \non the occasion of the death of the Eev. William Crook, late \nSenior Minister of the Irish Methodist Conference, with a copious \nSketch of his Life and Character. \' The Sketch is a tribute of \nfilial piety from the Eev. William Crook, of Drogheda, to one \nwho established an unquestionable claim on the respect and \nadmiration of all who esteem a patient spirit of enterprise, and \nself-sacrificing life of labour. Mr. Crook was a native of the \nneighbouring county of Fermanagh, and so long since as 1804 \nbegan the busy toil in which he continued for more than half a \ncentury. Having almost completed fourscore years, he descended \nto his grave amidst the love of his companions, and the esteem \nof a host of friends. The volume contains an admirable sermon \nby the Eev. Joseph W. M\'Kay." \xe2\x80\x94 Tyrone Constitution. \n\n"This is a very graceful tribute to the memory of a great and \ngood man. The editor has given us not only the Sermon and \nAddresses which were delivered on the occasion of his father\'s \ndeath \xe2\x80\x94 themselves a noble monument \xe2\x80\x94 but also a succinct and \nvery beautiful sketch, which seems to bring the venerable old \nman before us, so true is it and picturesque. It would be super- \nfluous for us to dwell upon those graces and qualities which \ncommended the senior minister of the Irish Conference to the \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\nlove of his brethren, and to the admiration of his people. We \nhope our readers will acquaint themselves with a character, to \nwhich the piety of a son has yielded so fitting a homage. "We \ncannot refrain, however, from expressing our obligation to the \neditor for having given us, in connexion with a sketch of his \nfather\'s life, many details respecting the labours of other honoured \nministers, who were engaged in the founding of Irish Methodism. \nThe incidents which are woven into this volume would furnish \na valuable contribution to a future history of Methodism in \nIreland." \xe2\x80\x94 London Quarterly Revieiv. \n\nII. \n\nIn Crown 8vo, Paper Cover, Price 6d. \n\nZQQXi Of {\\t SjJWfttS at the Formation of the \nHibernian Branch of the Methodist Missionary Society, \nin Whitefriar Street Chapel, Dublin, on Thursday, May \n5th, 1814. Edited by the Eev. William Crook. \n\n\n\nIII. \n\nAre the Dead in the Sleep of Unconsciousness ? \n\n64 Pages, Crown 8vo, Paper Cover, Is.; Cloth, red edges, Is. 6d. \n\nKXRbm; ox, % ^xmxtt Jponu 0f ifa Jpalg \n\nA Discourse delivered in the Methodist Church, Drogheda, \non Sunday Evening, October 18, 1863, on occasion of the death \nof the Most Rev. Eichard Whately, D.D., Archbishop of \nDublin, with a Brief Sketch of his Life and Character. By the \nRev. William Crook. \n\n"A very able discourse on an all-important subject, delivered \non a most interesting occasion." \xe2\x80\x94 The Homilist. \n\n"Dr. Whately held the doctrine that the soul lies in a state \nof unconscious torpor till the general resurrection. This doctrine \nMr. Crook undertakes to confute, and to state what we believe \nto be the Scriptural view. He ably combats the notion that the \nJews had no knowledge of a future state, and explains the Sheol \nof the Old Testament, and the Hades of the New. He also \nopposes Faber\'s conjecture respecting the locality of Hades, and \ngrapples manfully with the sleep-theory of Whately. There are \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\nsome "beautiful remarks on mutual recognition in a future state, \nand on the expectation of perfected blessedness. The discourse \nis ably conceived, and vigorously written, and will amply repay \nperusal." \xe2\x80\x94 Methodist Recorder. \n\n"This discourse, like other productions from the pen of Mr. \nCrook, is distinguished by vigorous thinking and eloquence of \nstyle. While the author pays a just tribute to the gifts, labours, \nand personal excellence of Archbishop Whately, he successfully \noverthrows a notion to which Whately lent his great name \xe2\x80\x94 the \nunconsciousness of the soul between time of death and the \nresurrection \xe2\x80\x94 and proves, by a powerful array of Scripture \nevidence, that the soul in the separate state of being retains \nnot only its vitality, but its consciousness, its power of thought, \nmemory, reflection, volition, and emotion, unimpaired by the \ndissolution of the body, and immediately enters upon a state of \nhappiness or woe." \xe2\x80\x94 Methodist Nevj Connexion Magazine. \n\n"This is a good and able Sermon, and is followed by a just \nand appreciative Sketch of Dr. Whately\' s public career." \xe2\x80\x94 \nEvangelical Witness. \n\n1 1 A valuable and most profitable contribution to the theological \nliterature of Methodism. " \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. John Rattenbury. \n\n"The argument is very triumphant." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. John Farrar, \nSecretary of the Conference. \n\n"I have never seen this most important subject handled in \nsuch a masterly way, or to my mind so conclusively. The dis- \ncourse is characterised by remarkable ability, and spirit-stirring \neloquence." \xe2\x80\x94 John D , Esq., Columbo, Ceylon. \n\n"I have read this most admirable Sermon with intense interest, \nand much profit. It is a masterpiece." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Dr. Pickard, \nSackville, New Brunsioick. \n\n"An eloquent and argumentative defence of the generally \nreceived doctrine of the intermediate state." \xe2\x80\x94 Christian Miscel- \nlany. \n\n"The style is marked by a most agreeable combination of \nvivacity and strength ; and we have only to observe, that in this \nrespect this Discourse will not disappoint anj\\ Language in \nwhich beauty and vigour are united, is employed to express truth \nof the loftiest character, in the most unequivocal terms. Your \nattention cannot fail to be fixed, as you read page after page ; \nand, when you arrive at the end, you are at once sorry that it \nhas been reached so soon, and thankful for the instruction and \nspiritual profit which you have received. The healthy tone of \nthis book, both as regards the doctrine it teaches and the spirit \nit breathes, together with the ability displayed in the work, \nrender it worthy of a very wide circulation." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. N. R. in \nIrish Evangelist. \n\n"A Discourse of great vigour, and of marked ability." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. \nDr. Morison, of Glasgow, Editor of the Evangelical Repository. \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\nIV. \n\n64 Pages, Crown 8vo, Paper Cover, Price 6d. \n\nA Tract for the Times. Third Thousand. 1865. \n\n" We have read this very able end seasonable tract with great \nsatisfaction. It is a thorough exposure and complete refutation \nof those subtle doctrinal errors, which, under the designation of \nthe Plymouth Faith, were well known amongst us some years \nago ; and which have recently, in the sister island, been revived \nand propagated by certain erratic and enthusiastic evangelists. \n"We are not surprised that errors, so nattering to human pride, \nand so adverse to practical godliness, should have numerous \nabettors ; but, if we have not utterly misunderstood and mis- \ninterpreted the New Testament, this new Gospel is \' another \ngospel.\' Mr Crook has done good service to the interests of \nChristianity by his calm, vigorous, and triumphant defence of \nthe old Gospel." \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley an Methodist Magazine. \n\n\' \' This \' Tract for the Times \' is from the pen of the able and \nvigorous Editor of the Irish Evangelist. Mr Crook is an \nacute controversialist, and dialectician. He exposes the theo- \nlogical contradictions and inconsistencies, and the practical mis- \nchiefs of Plymouth-Brethrenism, with unsparing severity and \nwithering sarcasm. "With the skill of a practised logician, he \nplaces his finger at once upon a fallacy, however subtle its disguise. \nThe style is caustic and incisive, cutting to the very quick. \nWherever the insidious mischief of Plymouthism is felt, whether \nin England or Ireland, we commend this seasonable and power- \nful pamphlet as an effectual antidote. " \xe2\x80\x94 Methodist Recorder. \n\n* \' It has told upon the New Gospel in this neighbourhood like \na shot from a mortar." \xe2\x80\x94 V. W., Esq. \n\n" I have long wished that some public notice would be taken \nof the rank antinomianism which has become so popular in our \nday, and am right glad to see this powerful pamphlet." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. \nJohn Nelson. \n\n" I greatly like the spirit, point, plan, distinctive character, \nand conclusiveness of this Tract. " \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Daniel Macafee. \n\n\' \' A well timed, and an exceedingly able pamphlet. It is quite \nan expose of the principles of the advocates of the New Gospel, \nand one which no sophistry will enable them to answer." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. \nWallace M\' \'Mullen. \n\n\' \' Admirable alike for its strength of thought, force of logic, \nsimplicity and pungency of style, and Christian temper." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. \nDavid Hay, Manchester. \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\n\' \' A thorough, refutation of the pestilent errors of the \' New \nGospel ; \' and a seasonable, candid, logical, scriptural, and \ntriumphant defence of the grand old Gospel. "\xe2\x80\x94.Rev. George T. \nPerks, M.A. \n\n\' \' An admirable and masterly Tract. " \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. J as. H. Rigg, D. D. \n\n" From the title (which is admirable and telling), to the last \nline, it is a sound, trenchant exposure of the miserable and \nstupid errors and delusions of Plyniouthism. I particularly \nadmire the logical demolition of the new theory of assurance, and \nthe quiet undercurrent of sarcasm, irony, and honest scorn which \npervades the pamphlet ; and shall look with some interest for \nthe promised sequel on the \'new Gospel.\' " Esq., M.B. \n\n"A concise and effective exposure of the theological vagaries \noriginating in Plymouthism. A lengthened examination of the \nsubjects criticised in the pamphlet would be out of place in a \nnewspaper ; but the questions discussed by Mr. Crook are be- \ncoming so much the religious questions of the day, that a general \nreference to them is a duty which we think we shall best fulfil \nby recommending the perusal of this \' Tract for the Times.\' " \xe2\x80\x94 \nSt Leonard\'s Standard. \xe2\x96\xa0 \n\n" This able pamphlet is written to warn the ignorant and \nunwary against the preaching of certain young laymen, profess- \ning at present to teach the Gospel to the clergy as well as to the \ngeneral public of Sligo, Ballina, Boyle, &c, &c, on a new prin- \nciple, which at all events displays one quality claimed for it by \nits advocates \xe2\x80\x94 that of great simplicity. The tract bears on its \ntitlepage the appropriate text, \' But there be some that trouble \nyou, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ. But though we, \nor an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than \nthat which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.\' \xe2\x80\x94 \nGalatians i. 7, 8. The writer holds an important position in \nthe useful and. much respected sect of the Wesleyan Metho- \ndists, and upon the whole we think the tract, coming from \nsuch a source, more likely to be of service, than had it emanated \n\nfrom the pen of an Established Church minister. \xe2\x96\xa0 \n\n* * \xe2\x80\xa2* * * * * \n\nWe are glad to see that Mr. Crook intends shortly to return \nto this subject, and that he is preparing for publication another \npamphlet entitled \xe2\x80\x94 \' Wheat or Chaff : or New Gospel views of \nthe believer\'s relation to the Law, to Sin, the \'resurrection life,\' \nOneness with Christ, Final Perseverance, &c, tested by Scrip- \nture and common sense.\' We wish him God-speed in his efforts \nto uphold the cause of the true religion of Christ against these \nfalse teachers of \'strange doctrines.\' It is very much to the \ncredit of the Wesley an Methodists that when some ministers of \nthe Established and Presbyterian Churches have so far forgot \nthe doctrines they are bound to preach as to countenance and \nsupport those unscriptural lay-preachers, they have as a body \nheld back and remained steadfast to the \' form of sound words, \' \ngiven them in the Bible." \xe2\x80\x94 Sligo Independent. \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\nV. \n\nJftekttir atttr % \xe2\x82\xacmtmm\xc2\xa3 d %mmtmx \n\nChapters on the palatines : philip embury and Barbara \nheck ; and other irish emigrants, who instrumentality" \nlaid the foundation of the methodist church in the \nunited states of america, canada, and eastern british \namerica. with an appendix. 1866. \n\nTHIRD THOUSAND. \n\nCrown 8vo, Cloth, with Seven Engravings, Price 4s., Gilt, \n4s. 6d. \xe2\x80\x94 Embury\'s Farewell when leaving Limerick; The \nSums of his House at Ballingran ; His House at New York, in \nwhich his first Sermon in America was preached; The "Rig- \nging Loft," Old John Street Chapel, " The Cradle of Ameri- \ncan Methodism ; " The House in which Strawbridge died, and \na "Visit to his Grave. \n\n\'\'Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful hough by a well: whose \nbranches run over the wall : the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot \nat him, and hated him : but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his \nhands were made strong by the hands of the mightv God of Jacob."\xe2\x80\x94 Gen. \nxlix. 22-24. \n\n\n\n" This is a book of fascinating power, which will be read with \nthe deepest interest by thousands on both sides of the Atlantic. \nIt is written with the author\'s characteristic spirit and vigour, \nand has all over it the glow of a noble and beautiful enthusiasm. \n.... We had some conception of the contributions that had \nbeen made from the vigorous and fruitful stock of Irish Methodism \nto the Methodism of the New World ; but we must confess that, \nuntil reading the historical disclosures brought to light in this \nvolume, we had no adequate notion of the immense extent of \nindebtedness under which American Methodism from the be- \nginning until now has been placed to Ireland We cor- \ndially concur in the judgment of Mr. Crook, that if Irish \nMethodism had been able to retain all the sons and daughters \nthat have been reared up in the last hundred years, within her \nbosom, she would have presented, in proportion to the popula- \ntion, the most numerous and powerful outgrowth of Methodism \n\nin the United Kingdom Mr. Crook writes with the head \n\nand heart of an outspoken Protestant : he is a well read man, \nand knows thoroughly the dogmas of Popery ; but he is also a \nclose and keen observer. He has had an opportunity of marking \nthe influence of Romanism on the intellect, the moral nature, \nthe domestic life, the social institutions, and the commercial \nenterprise of his country : and we are not surprised at the \nscathing and trenchant terms in which he denounces \' the \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\nmystery of iniquity. \' . . . . We heartily recommend the book \nto all our readers. We have read it with admiration and wonder : \nit is full of incident and story, written in a sparkling, glowing \nstyle, that rivets and fascinates the attention." \xe2\x80\x94 Methodist \nRecorder. \n\n" It is impossible to form a just estimate #f the wide-spread \ninfluence which Irish Methodism has exerted, unless we direct \nspecial attention to the United States of America. Emigrants \nfrom Ireland were the first Methodists who landed on that vast \nterritory ; the first Methodist sermon there preached was by one \nof them ; the first Methodist Chapel was erected mainly by their \nuntiring efforts ; and the first \' Itinerant preacher \' was Robert \nWilliams, who was in full connexion with the Irish Conference. \nThese and many other deeply interesting facts, illustrating the \nconnexion between Irish and American Methodism, are detailed \nin the volume before us, with a fulness and accuracy which leave \nnothing to be desired. With painstaking industry Mr. Crook \nhas made diligent search in every available quarter for even the \nminutest scraps of information which could in any way illustrate \nhis theme ; and his pages, all aglow with life and feeling, at \nonce command our confidence as historical records, instruct \nthe mind by the valuable information which they convey, and \ndeeply interest the heart by describing the wonderful work which \nGod has wrought in the world by the instrumentality of the \nChurch to Avhich it is our high honour to belong." \xe2\x80\x94 Wesley an \nMethodist Magazine. \n\n" It is a fact of special interest that Irishmen have been the \nmost prominent agents in the early career of American Metho- \ndism. An Irishman, Philip Embury, from Ballingran, near \nLimerick, was the first Methodist local preacher in America. \nHe preached the first sermon, and he organised the first class. \nThe first Methodist congregation consisted of five Irish emi- \ngrants \xe2\x80\x94 Philip Embury and his wife, Paul Heck and Barbara \nhis wife, John Lawrence, and Betty, a black servant. That \ncongregation of five has grown up to near eight millions in \nAmerica alone. The first Itinerant preacher was also an Irish- \nman \xe2\x80\x94 namely, Robert Williams. The first preacher in Canada \nwas also an Irishman, George Neal ; and soon after came James \nM\'Carty, another Irishman, who died as a martyr in the cause, \nbeing cruelly murdered by savage persecutors for his zeal and \nfidelity in proclaiming the truth of God. From that day to this, \nIrishmen have been prominent in diffusing and maintaining the \nwork of God on the American continent. It is a common thing \nto depreciate Methodism in Ireland as unproductive. Yet, for \nthe period of a hundred years, there has been a constant stream \nof Irish emigrants to America and Canada, who, on their arrival \nthere, have laboured as zealous members, class-leaders, and \npreachers, consecrating their time and talents to the diffusion of \nMethodism. It is affirmed, on good authority, that not less than \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\n70,000 members of Methodist churches have emigrated from \nIreland to America. And there, they and their pious descend- \nants have been among the most efficient agents in the great \nwork of God. These facts, and many others of a highly interest- \ning character, in reference to the connection which Irish. Metho- \ndists have had with the origin, progress, and triumphs of \nMethodism in the United States and. Canada, are set forth in \nthis volume. Mr. Crook has displayed great industry in search- \ning out and authenticating his facts, in correcting the minor \nerrors of his predecessors, and producing a very instructive, \nlively, and edifying volume, the existence of which seems essen- \ntial to an accurate and complete history of Methodism. .... \nWe heartily thank Mr. Crook for this timely and excellent \nwork. We are glad to find a second edition is already called \nfor, and we wish for it a very extensive circulation." \xe2\x80\x94 Methodist \nNeio Connexion Magazine. \n\n" A mere summary of Mr. Crook\'s volume will suffice to shew \nwhat toil, skill, and patience were needed to comprise such a \nmass of details within so small a space, and present in a little \nover 250 pages, a worthy memorial of Ireland\'s place in con- \nnexion with the origin of American Methodism But the \n\nheadings of the various chapters only barely reveal the wealth \nof incidents respecting the fugitive Palatines ; the bold Robert \nSwindells ; the life and death of Thomas Walsh ; the debark- \nation of Embury and his party ; John Wesley\'s visits to Ire- \nland ; the slander which has gained such currency concerning \nEmbury\'s being found playing at cards ; the professional services \nof Mrs. Heck as architect of John Street Church ; the germ of \n\' the Book Concern ;\' the visit of Dr. M\'Clintock to his family \nhomestead in Tyrone ; Bishop Janes\'s speech on the debt of \nAmerican Methodism to Ireland, and the special efforts which \nare being made for the conversion of Irish Romanists in Eng- \nland and America. Aught of its class more comprehensive in \ndetail, or spirit-stirring and suggestive in narration, we have \nseldom read. We seem in this book, and in the movement with \nwhich it is connected, to trace the mystic waters as they flow \nfrom \' under the threshold of the house, \' deepening and widen- \ning in their course, and skirted with very many trees on the \none side and on the other." \xe2\x80\x94 Watchman. \n\n" This book bids fair to be well received by the people of this \ncountry, and more especially by the great community of Wes- \n\nleyan Methodism in its various branches Its range is \n\nvery wide, its incidents all but innumerable, and its characters \n\xe2\x80\x94 ministerial characters, we mean, men to whose life, labours, \nand history a very high importance attaches \xe2\x80\x94 are carefully de- \nlineated. It opens with the Palatines in Ireland, presenting a \nremarkably captivating chapter, which is followed by another on \nthe origin and progress of Methodism amongst the Palatines. \nHere Mr. Wesley stands forth in his pristine glory, surrounded \n\n\n\nNOTICES. \n\n\n\nby those remarkable men whom God was pleased to raise up for \nhis comfort and assistance, and amongst these not the least \nnoticeable is the sketch of Thomas Walsh, one of the most \nremarkable men that ever graced the rule of Methodism in the \nEmerald Isle. The second chapter is a remarkably luminous \none, worthy to be set forth in a separate form, as a tract for dis- \ntribution in Ireland. We are next introduced to Philip Embury \nand Mrs. Heck. Here we have the history of the first stage of \nMethodism in the New World. While the chapter is brief, yet \nthere is much about it that will be novel to the mass of British \nreaders. The account of this devoted people\'s arrival in the \ncity of New York, then a comparatively small place, is full of \ninterest \xe2\x80\x94 strikingly illustrative of the power of zeal on behalf of \nthe cause of God, and the ingenuity with which devoted people \nwill promote their sacred object. With no society to support \nhim, few friends to encourage him, many difficulties to encounter, \nyet Mr. Embury set to work, and succeeded to plant the tree of \nMethodism in the New World \xe2\x80\x94 a tree which has brought forth \nfruit that has administered health, life, and felicity to millions, \nand whose fruitfulness bids fair to continue for ages to come. \n.... But we may not enlarge. Suffice it to say that we have \na series of chapters, all of a similar character, presenting bio- \ngraphical sketches of men great in their sphere, and singularly \nuseful in their day and generation. The Irish element enters \nlargely into these labours, and the result conclusively proves \nthat the Irish character, detached from the thraldom of Popery, \nand the chains of the priesthood, is admirably adapted to works \nof godly enterprise. This book is not to be confounded with \nordinary publications on Methodism." \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. Dr. Campbell, in \nBritish Standard. \n\n1 1 A delightful book \xe2\x80\x94 instructive in its facts, captivating in \nits style, rich in experience, and holy in its purpose. " \xe2\x80\x94 Wesleyan \nTimes. \n\n\n\nLondon : \xe2\x80\x94 Hamilton, Adams & Co. , Paternoster Row. \nWesleyan Conference Office. \nElliot Stock, Paternoster Row. \nDublin : \xe2\x80\x94 Richard Yoakley, 72, Grafton Street. \n\n\n\n\nID 38. 8. \n\n\n\nMARCUS WARD & CO., PRINTERS, BELFAST AND DUBLIN. \n\n\n\n\n\nO V \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n^ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper pri \n\n!\xc2\xab* ^> aV Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxidi \n\\s- ^ Treatment Date: May 2006 \n\nPreservationTechnoiogii \n\n\n\n\n1 A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERmA \n\n1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive \nCranberry Township, PA 1 60661 \n(724)779-2111 \n\n\n\nma \n\n\n\n'