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-A_3D ID IE& ESS
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
Jtol flmittm’ gMsariatian
OF BALTIMORE,
TOGETHER WITH THE
ANNUAL ADDRESS AT TROY, N. Y.,
CENTENARY DISCOURSE
BEFORE
^ Rational j^oaafkt of |oaI jjroa^kr^
OF. THE
M. E. CHURCH,
IN JOHN STREET M. E. CHURCH, NEW YORK CITY,
AN APPENDIX.
BY
W. DR. GEORGE C. 1 ROBERTS, i.I. D, D. D.
OF BALTIMORE, MD.
Baltimore*
PRINTED BY J. B. ROSE & CO.
No. 5 South Calvert Street.
1868.^IDID^ESS
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
Jfoal fjruuftm' ^ssariaiiiro
OF BALTIMORE,
TOGETHER WITH THE
ANNUAL ADDRESS AT TROY, N. Y.,
AND
CENTENARY DISCOURSE
BEFORE
jj,ty Rational J[^ociation of jjocal : jtraijkr^
OF THE ,
M. E CHURCH,
IN JOHN STREET M. E. CHURCH, NEW YORK CITY,
AN APPENDIX.
BY
BEV. DB. 6E0BBE C. M. EGBERTS, 11., 1. D, D. D.
OF BALTIMORE, MD.
galtimors;
PRINTED BY J. B. ROSE & CO.
No. 5 South Calvert Street.
1868.TO THE
LOCAL PREACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF BALTIMORE,
THIS ADDRESS IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY
THE AUTHOR,
WITH FERVENT PRAYER THAT IT MAY BE MADE A BLESSING TO THEM, AND
ALL OTHERS WHO MAY READ IT.I
ADDRESS OP
Rev. Dr GEO. C. M. ROBERTS,
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
"Jotal Ijttatjjers* Association of Baltimore/'
April Jf, 1859.
Beloved Brethren :—The whole Divine economy in the insti-
tution and perpetuatipn of the Christian Ministry, clearly indicates
three things :
1st—Man's Peril.
2d—God's anxiety to save Mm.
3d—His certain and eternal ruin if he disregard the council of God,
through the Ministry.
. The work of the Ministry, then, is a very arduous one. If duly
appreciated by us, it is a work of labor and environed with difficul-
ties.
The Minister of the Lord Jesus Christ has to look to himself, to
his fellow men, and to God. He has to study himself in the rela-
tions he sustains to God. To apply and enforce every duty de-
volving upon man, and to do this effectually, he must become ac-
quainted with man’s nature—his sinfulness—and understand fully
how they are operating in keeping him from Gpd; to reprove, warn,
and exhort them to make their peace with God whilst they have
the opportunity so to do.
Ministers are God’s agents; to hear and regard them is serious
work indeed. In this aspect of the subject, the work of the Min-
istry becomes solemn and awfully responsible to God and the people.
They are the mouth-piece of God—through them he speaks. They
are sent to negotiate a peace between earth and heaven. “In
Christ’s stead ” they call upon men to become reconciled to God.
Their powers are not plenipotentiary. They have, in one sense,
full powers, but have their written instructions to men, to warn
them of danger and to counsel them as to their interest and duty.
From these instructions they dare not swerve; if they do, they
forfeit their calling, their peace, their salvation ; and the blood of
souls will be on their skirts. “Him that hath” God’s word is bound4
to speak that word u faithfully.” Ministers should know their duty,
and faithfully and honestly meet it. They should study to show
themselves “ approved unto God,” as workmen that need not be
‘‘ashamed.” That is, intently to fix their mind upon their duty
for the purpose of thorough^ understanding it. With due care and
diligence look over the whole ground. This should be the fixed
and ruling object and end of pursuit—God’s approval is everything.
They should labor zealously to effect this. Nothing should be ne-
glected or left unturned to accomplish it. Every help should
be used to secure this end.
He should constantly give heed to the command given by an in-
spired Apostle to Timothy, (1 Tim. iv, 13,) viz : “ Give attendance
to reading, exhortation, to doctrine,” or preaching. The first,
“reading,” is by no means to be neglected, that he may be prepar-
ed for the second, the work of “ exhortation ” and preaching. The
Bible is his text-book. Whatever else may be passed by, this is
not. It should be his pocket companion, his daily study. No day
should pass over his head without giving himself to the study of
one or more chapters, and in consecutive order. Indeed, it would
be well for him to have such an acquaintance with the Hebrew and
Greek, as to be able to know fully the mind of the Holy Spirit in
the passage before him. A critical knowledge of these languages
is not necessary, though it would greatly aid him. Such are the
helps of this day, that no one, however old or however much his
time may be occupied on other matters, need for one moment
despair of obtaining such knowledge of these languages as will enable
him thus to prove what is the mind of God. Study the Scriptures
closely every day, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, oiie
passage with another, until you are able to comprehend fully the
mind of the Holy Ghost. Be men “ of one Bookmake the Bible
your standard. Bring every opinion to its test. What it enjoins,
that fail not plainly to enjoin yourselves ; and what it forbids, that
teach not
Let all your studies be such as will enable you better to under-
stand the Holy Scriptures. As the lioness robbed of her whelps
scours the plain in pursuit of them, so do you search the Scriptures
to ascertain their true meaning, and consequently what you are to
teach.
God not only condescended to come down to earth to lead a suf-
fering life and die an ignominious death for us, but he has left his
Book behind. In it he teaches the way to Heaven fully, so that
none need be mistaken, none need doubt. You have this Book—
make it the Book of your choice—make every other subservient
to it; and if, in your study of this Book you meet anything that is
too intricate for you, go to its author—to God. Implore his aid
in view of his own exceeding great and precious promises. “If
any he willing to do His will, he shall know of the doctrines.”
Be willing. Earnestly pray for light to fall upon the sa-
cred page, and light shall fall upon it, and you shall “know of the
doctrine” Then consult those experienced in the things of God,
whose writings you have, and you will be prepared to teach the
truth as it is in Christ. Next to this, he should give himself to5
the study of Wesley’s Notes and Wesley’s Sermons, Clarke's The-
ology, &nd other standard works of this kind, as his time will allow
him to study. He should1 make himself fully acquainted with
Wesley’s Notes and Sermons. If, my .brethren, you did but accom-
plish this, you would prove yourselves master workmen. I con-
sider these works, with Clarke’s Theology, to contain the whole
pith and marrow of the Gospel. It is, indeed, “theology in a
nut shell; ” so much so that I unhesitatingly pronounce him to be
a mere novice in his calling who is not well read in them. These
works are at hand; every one may possess them at but small ex-
pense. With these in his possession, well and constantly studied,
he need not, for one moment, regret the absence of all others. If
I can, this evening, so impress your mind, with the absolute ne-
cessity of giving yourselves to the constant study of these books,
I will have accomplished for you a most glorious work,—a work
that will make your hearts rejoice to the latest period of your life.
Do not merely read them—study them, so as to make them your
own. They will improve your minds and make better your hearts.
Whilst engaged in this study, remember that it must be done
prayerfully. Look to God for his assistance every time you open
these works. Look to him for his aid in every difficulty you en-
counter. To study without constant and never-failing prayer, is
to become acquainted simply with the ‘‘letter”—and this “killeth.”
But to precede all your studies with fervent prayer, to mingle fer-
vent prayer with them, is to become “able ministers of the New
Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit, which giveth life.”
Eemember, also, that your “approval” is to be primarily “of God.”
What the people think of you is to be a secondary thing, and
whenever it comes in contact with the smiles of God upon you, is
at once and forever to be rejected. It is pleasant to have the peo-
ple think well of us, and to appreciate our labors; but this must
not, at our peril, be the thing aimed at in our public ministrations.
First, and before everything beside, should be the question—does
God approve ? You should go from your closet, as far as it is
practicable, to the pulpit; you should lay before the Great Head of
the Church every effort you are about to make. It should be your
first care to secure the favor of God to rest upon you. In this way,
and in this way alone, you can meet the Scriptural pattern of an
evangelical Minister. Make this manifest to all who hear you, be-
yond the possibility of gain-saying. Let them see in every appear-
ance before them that you are a working man, having a work
that requires great skill and great pains ,* an active laborer—no
drone—ready to enter every open door where there is a possibility,
as well as probability, of saving a single soul. Cultivate any and
every field; seize upon every occasion. A Methodist preacher
should always be ready to preach and ready to die. Stand up
boldly and speak out boldly, but humbly. Be confident that God
has called you to the work, and that he will always give you
ability to labor for him. The unskillful, the unfaithful, the indo-
lent, need “to be ashamed.” The fai hful, well skilled in his work
and mindful of itattentive and industrious in meeting its claims,6
“need not be ashamed.” Whenever he speaks, he may be satisfied
that God will use it, whether the fruit be visible or invisible. The
message he delivers to the people is God’s truth, and can never
fall to the ground fruitless. *
You will doubtless, my brethren, in the great day of the Al-
mighty, find that some of the efforts you were prone to think the
least of, were the most effectual.
Know then that your message is from God to fallen man; that
the doctrines are true; the promises are true; threatenings are
true; and if spoken in the fear of God, must tell upon some
one. God will never suffer it to fall to the ground without
producing its effects somewhere. It will either be “a savor of
life unto life or a savor of death unto death.”
I advise you never to go into the pulpit at hap-hazard. In every
case study the character and necessities of your audience ; their
condition : their need ; their responsibility. Never preach to show
yourself! Confine yourself to the plain, simple doctrines of the
Bible. Let the present good, and future welfare of the people,
be the only aim of your life. Live for them; labor for their
souls; labor as under the eye of God; labor to adapt every sermon
to the immediate, pressing, special necessities of those who hear
you; labor as those who must give an account. It is true that
this will require great wisdom, fore-thought, and close study upon
your part. But you can accomplish it—the weakest of you can ac-
complish it.
Again. At this time, when a superficial piety is in vogue, it be-
hooves you to set your faces as flint against it. Be careful to enjoy,
yourselves, holiness of heart, and then preach it to others. Let it
be the theme of your discourses; explain its nature, in simple lan-
guage—easy to be understood by all; also the manner of obtaining
it, and retaining it. This subject is too rarely insisted upon in the
pulpit; so rarely, indeed, that it cannot be denied that many of our
people, and some of our preachers, have become somewhat skeptical
as to the possibility of its enjoyment. Nevertheless, it is a Scriptu-
ral doctrine. It was much insisted upon by our Fathers. Indeed,
it was this that gave them so much success in their ministrations.
The blood of Christ—the only hope of the sinner’s justification—ap-
plied, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in his entire redemption,
was the subject of their discourses. As their sons and successors
in the Gospel, do not fail to insist upon this. The great doctrine
of justification by faith alone in the promises of God through Christ,
attested by the Holy Spirit, and the doctrine of purity of heart, at-
tested by the same Spirit, are doctrines very full of comfort—the
only and the last hope of a ruined world. On these, and these
alone, can man predicate a clear and certain assurance of his ac-
ceptance with God in this world, and the blessedness of everlasting
life in the world to come.
I feel, my brethren, that I should be derelict in the performance
of the solemn duty imposed upon me at this time, if I should fail
to speak out distinctly and clearly on this point, in such a manner
and in the use of such language as cannot me misunderstood. Oh,
then, as you value your own souls, and the souls of those to whom1
you minister, ardently, earnestly and perseveringly seek this bless-
ing until you find it, and then you will be prepared as ardently,
earnestly, and perseveringly to preach it to others. Fear not the
unkind remarks of those who may differ from you in opinion.
Succumb not to any and all difficulties that may be thrown in
your way—you are to be men of one idea. Let it diffuse its mel-
lowing influence in all you say; let it be seen in your lives, and
you cannot fail of success.
The “ seeing God ” in everything, is essential to your happiness
and usefulness in this world, and to your eternal life hereafter. To
be enabled always to “ see him ” in temporal things and relations,
to “ see him ” in spiritual things and relations, and to “see him ”
in national things and relations, will smooth the pathway of life to
you, and render you powerful in smoothing that of others. To see
his presence and hand superintending and directing all things, at
ail times, and under all circumstances, in prosperity and adversity,
in health and sickness, in life and in death, will cause you to be
unspeakably happy, and pre-eminently useful. To see his direct-
ing and supervising agency in all things—his plans, purposes,
judgments, &c., &c,,—is heaven begun below, and a full prepara-
tion for heaven to come.
To “see God” thus, “purity of heart” is essential. God promises
it to no others. None other shall ever enjoy it here. He who is
not thus saved on earth from all sin, through faith in the all-atoning
merits of Christ’s blood, shall never see God.
As Methodist preachers, never lose sight of this. Let it always
be the Alpha and Omega with you. If you live in its enjoyment,
you will be the better prepared to teach it fully.
Local Preachers, I have thus spoken to you a few plain and hon-
est things on the Nature and Responsibility of your Office—on
your identification with it as “fellow-helpers” to the truth. Suffer
me to direct your attention for a few moments, to another point—
one which is of equal importance to you in your work, viz: Be men
of integrity in your temporal business. Whatever your calling may
be—however bumble und unobstrusive—in it be men of integrity;
men of truth in word and deed; examples of consistency of deport-
ment, and purity in life.
The eyes of the world cannot avoid being fixed upon you. You
are before them constantly, inviting them to look at you as teach-
ers of the people. Be, therefore, constantly on your guard. Watch
over yourselves with a vigilance that knows no relaxation. In
this way, and in this way only, can you hope always to appear as
examples worthy of being imitated, and leave behind you a name
and memory more precious than “ointment poured forth.”
Such a life cannot be in vain. God will give it effect, and in
life’s last hour it cannot fail of being what you most ardently desire.
[The time allotted for the delivery of the Address was limited
by other business, otherwise I would have enlarged my remarks on
various topics of interest to the Local Ministry.]
In conclusion, suffer me then to call up again, in a few words,
what has been laid down as the Rule of your life.8
1st. Yours is, an arduous work;. God’s agents upon earth, you
stand between an offended God and offending man.
2 1. Be well prepared for your work by the diligent study of the
Bible, Wesley’s Notes, Wesley’s Sermons, and Clarke’s Theology.
Other books may be examined as you have opportunity, but these
must not be neglected. Make these your constant companions—
your daily study.
3d. Be men of much prayer. Often be found in private places,
on your knees, pleading with God for a qualification for your duties,
and for success in them.
4th. In your ministrations before the people, dwell specially
upon the total depravity of man ; atonement by the shedding of the
blood of the Son of God; repentance; faith in God through Christ;
justification of the sinner before God, through Christ; abiding
witness of the Holy Spirit to this great change ; entire sanctification
throughout soul, body and spirit; heaven and hell. Let these
subjects be the chief ones of your ministry, and whenever others
are dwelt upon, let it only be that these may be the more efficiently
introduced. To do this effectually, take care to enjoy the doctrines
yourself. Have a clear understanding of them, not only theoretic-
ally, but practically.
5th. In every discourse, take occasion to speak of justification
by faith, and entire sanctification. Some one will hear you for
the first and last time. Let your skirts be clear of their blood.
6th. Be men of unquestionable integrity in your business, con-
sistent always in deportment, and pure in your life.
7th. If you thus spend your time as men of one Book, and all
your energies be brought to bear upon the explanation of its sim-
ple truths, and the enforcement of its doctrines, success will attend
your labors, visible and invisible to you; and whenever and where-
ever you may be called to die, you will have finished your course
with joy, and the ministry which you have received of the Lord Jesus.ANNUAL DISCOURSE
BEFORE THE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL PREACHERS
OF THE
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH,
DELIVERED IN THE STATE STREET M. E. CHURCH, TROY, N. Y.,
October 12, 1864.
Fathers and Brethren—I shall offer no apology whatever for
departing, on the present occasion, from the custom followed sedu-
lously by those who have preceded me, in preaching a sermon be-
fore the Convention. .
The field before me is so vast, and the subjects, which crowd
upon my mind are so solemn, that I feel that I can best subserve
your pleasure in the work devolving upon me by your unanimous
suffrages, by putting my thoughts in the form of an address.
When you consider the high and holy ground you occupy, the
all-absorbing topics that should characterize your ministrations
before the people, and the fearful account that you must give in the
judgement of the Great Bay, for the proper discharge of your du-
ties,—the post you occupy is one of no small magnitude, and the
position I now hold, through your appointment, is one of the gravest
character.
Whether you look at the relation you hold to the great Head of
the Church on the one hand, or to the people to whom you minis-
ter on the other, or to both of these combined, your situation, as
local preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, becomes one of
the most serious nature.
You are called of God to be his mouth-piece, in declaring to a lost
and ruined world his mercy and his love; in making for it the most
ample provisions, whereby it can be saved and restored again to
his forfeited image lost in the fall.
How you may best fulfill the purposes of your mission, should,
first and before everything else, occupy your most profound thoughts.
God, in his wisdom, has provided for man’s full and entire restora-
tion to his favor, by the gift of his only begotten and well beloved
Son, Jesus Christ. Through the merit of the atonement made by
him for man, he proffers without money or price, to all the race, a,
free and full pardon for the guilt of all past offences, preparatory
to a full smd perfect salvation from the power and dominion of sin
in the future, in order that we may be prepared for that heaven
which finally awaits the “ pure in heart,” in that world to which
we are all hastening.10
It becomes your solemn duty to make known what the purposes
of God, in these particulars, are. It should be your aim to qualify
yourselves to discharge this duty, as you will wish you had when
you come to the day of final retribution, as every one of you will
certainly, soooner or later, come. You should bring always to your
work a heart that feels its responsibilities before God ; be deeply
satisfied with your own personal acceptance with him ; never ap-
pear in public as teachers of the people without this. The firm and
fixed consciousness of your own pardon and acceptance, through
the “ blood of the lamb ” is essential to the successful prosecution of
the arduous work of the ministry. Then with eyes bedimmed
with tears of compassion, as messengers of peace you look out upon
the thousands that may be before you, totally unconscious of the
great danger that awaits them, you will be prepared to hold up the
Saviour, Christ, alone, and in unmistakable language proclaim the
joyful intelligence that God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. (John 3 : 16.) Then may you be certain, whether
you now see it or not, that many of those who have heard this
message at your mouth, will not have heard it in vain.
In every discourse you preach, no matter what particular part
of the divine oracle may occupy your thoughts, you must be cer-
tain to bring to the notice of your audience this great and saving
truth, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man
(Heb. 2 : 9), that you may be free from the blood of all men. It
was this determination, always carried out, that made our fathers
in the ministry the giants they were, and gave to them their power.
They were literally men of two books,—the Bible and the Hymn
Book. These were their constant companions. With hearts over-
whelmed with the spirit of their vocation, and with minds well
versed in the doctrines and duties of the Bible, exemplified and
illustrated by the simple and beautiful poetry of Wesley, they went
forth preaching and singing. The consequence was, their ministry
was owned of God, and crowned with most ample success.
Unless we come back to those days of purity and simplicity, it is,
to me at least, matter of very great doubt, whether we shall ever,
in the same sense, see those days return to bless the Church and
the world. In departing from the form of our old Hymn Book,
whatever we have gained, it is highly problematical, whether
we have done for our people and those who hear us the best that
might have been done. Bather would I know that the “people
called Methodistsin every clime and nation under heaven, sang
every week from one and the same book, in the simple strains
given to us by Wesley himself, the doctrines and duties of the
Bible.* As a hymnologist, the world will never see his like again.
Then there would be no danger of a schism among us on the doc-
trinal points. Heretofore all who have gone from our communion
* I hope that at no distant day the thoughts of the Methodists will he turned to the pre-
paration of a Hymn Book to he used in every nation; that over the whole earth our people
may sing from one and the same hook. The Wesleyans of Europe and the General Confer-
ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America should unite in this glorious enterprise.
It might very readily consist of two books: the first to contain Hymns, purely Wesleyan,
the second to he made up of selections from other authors.11
have been influenced so to do from their peculiar views of Church
government alone. Whilst our people are taught to sing from, their
cradle to their grave, our doctrines, in the very language of that
man of God, there will be no danger of heresy creeping in among
us. The minister who predicates all his discourses on the Bible,
and enforces all by the Bible, is like the Angel of the Apocaiypse
who stands in the sun, deriving all his light and heat from him.
The Bible must be your constant study; the Bible must be your
constant companion ■ and let the Hymn Book be its constant asso-
ciate.
The great doctrines of the fall of man and his consequent utter
depravity ; his redemption by Christ Jesus and restoration to the
image and favor of God, by implicit faith in him through Christ;
a life of holiness, and his final admission to the immunities of that
kingdom which is yet to come, should be the special object of your
prayerful study. If you go from your knees to the pulpit, as you
certainly should, with hearts feeling the burden of souls, and feeling
also the weight of these truths and those necessarily connected
with them, you will have imparted to your ministry a power that
will give it great success. Make, then, the word of God your only
standard, both of experience and practice and doctrine. Study it
with the utmost care.
There is one other point that I would urge upon you: the vital
importance of making all your discourses plain and short. That
your discourses may be “fitly spoken,” you should speak plainly,
suffering not your efforts to be trammeled by many words. Be-
mernber that God hath said, “He that hath my word, let him speak
my word faithfully.” (Jer. 23: 28.) Again T say, preach plainly,
preach briefly, preach earnestly, in language that can readily be com-
prehended by all who hear yon. Confine yourselves to what is
written in the Bible.
Look well to its doctrines of the perfections of the Godhead, the
power and mediatoral office of the Son of God, and the divine
agency of the Holy Spirit. Look well to its promises and threat-
enings, its invitations, precepts and warnings. Study carefully
the very words of God, and study his word by his word. The lan-
guage of the Bibre was dictated by the Divine Being himself, and
is full of meaning. Inattention to this is indeed the source of all
error in theology, and at least half the differences among men would
be avoided if they scriptually defined the terms they used.*
Whilst you avail yourselves of the aid afforded by commentaries
on the sacred Scriptures and works of like character, you must not
fail to study for yourselves, so as to ascertain what is the true com-
mon sense meaning of the Word of God. Compare one text with
another, and thus acquire a knowledge of what is “the mind of the
Spirit,” and you will be enabled to give a scriptural exposition of
it whenever you come before the people.
* I advise every one of yon to make yourselves sufficiently acquainted with the original lan-
guages in which the Scriptures were written, as to enable you to read them with some ease.
However desirable'a critical knowledge of these languages may be, it Is not essentially ne-
cessary. You may all, in comparatively a short time, so far make yourselves acquainted with
them as to read with comfort to yourselves the Holy Scriptures. If it does no more for you
than to enable you to understand the derivation of words, it will do this, and thus give you an
incalculable advantage over others.n
Cultivate a living piety, and every day seek, by the most earnest
supplication, to know what is the will of heaven, as it is spoken in
the Bible. From this hour until you come to stand before the
Judge of all men, never permit a day to pass without studying the
Word of God, even if it be but a few verses. The Bible is God’s
own book. It is the standard of all true religion. By it, and by it
alone, you are to be governed in all you teach. You should never
attempt to bind on any man’s conscience what is not plainly taught
in God’s word. Every man is bound to be obedient to that, and
- that only. By this means a great blessing will attend you person-
ally as well as your ministrations. Thus saith the Lord, This book
of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate
therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all
that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous,
and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1: 8.)
First and before every thing, preach Christ Jesus the Lord and
Him crucified. The despised cross of Christ should be nearer to
you than all things besides. He is the one mediator between God
and men. (1 Tim. 1: 5.) Preach Am not only as the Savior of “all
men,” but ‘4specially of those that believe.” (Ib. 4:10.) Constantly
hold him up before you. Hide yourself behind his cross. Let not
so much of self be seen as your little finger.
By thus preaching you may calculate in general, and you should
expect nothing else than to lose caste with intellectual worldlings.
The men of the world may and will deem you “fools.” So did they
the apostles before you. For the preaching of the cross is to them
that perish foolishness” (1 Cor. 1: 18.) Ho marvel, then, that they
put such an estimate on you and the plain, unsophisticated word
you teach. Be not surprised, or discouraged, or made to falter
thereby. They see things through a perverted medium. They
are intent only upon things of a worldly nature. Allow not your-
selves to be turned from the path of duty by their course. You
have the consciousness of knowing the matter will be decided by a
higher tribunal; and the judgment in the case will not be man’s
judgment but that of God. The wisdom of the course you are now
pursuing will be hereafter acknowledged by God himself—the day
of eternity will demonstrate it to the perfect satisfaction of your
own minds, and to the utter confusion of all opposers.
He is truly the best speaker, whom the youngest and least in-
tellectual can comprehend. “Ma! ” said a little girl to her mother,
on returning home one Sabbath morning, from church, where she
had heard such a sermon as we have been endeavoring to recom-
mend—“that man preached very plain this morning. Why I
understood every thing he said.” Blessed child! God grant that
those truths may never be obliterated from your memory! Be-
member that the true use of language is to express plainly and
simply what you mean. We deny in toto the opinion advanced by
Talleyrand, that words are made to conceal thoughts ; or rather so
to mistify them, as that the hearer may believe the speaker means
either of two very opposite things. He speaks most effectively,
who delivers himself in the fewest, the purest, the choicest words.
The use of many words, were few would express your meaning,13
will only serve to weaken your style, dilute your sermons, and
cause them to fall lightly upon the audience. You may suppose
you have done well, but depend upon it, many of your hearers will
think far otherwise. He who culls all the flowers of rhetoric, where-
with to ornament his discourse, and whose sentences are rounded
by an inflated oratory, is like the shallow brook, in which there is
much noise but little depth. Let your language be plain, easy of
comprehension, concentrated. Then will it be irresistible. This is
true eloquence, and there is none other. Again I would call up the
words of the Holy Ghost, z‘He that hath my word, let him speak
my word faithfully.”
A Methodist preacher, whenever he attempts to declare the Gos-
pel, should be certain that it is the Gospel. He should recollect
that it is his sole business, when he speaks, to say good rather than
great things; to say things that are scriptural, wise, and worthy to
be remembered, and not merely to talk against time, and*in the
end, to say nothing—a fashion of late entirely too prevalent. This
is simply disgracing his calling. Speak plainly and, through the
head, to the heart. For the heart can only be effectually reached
to any enduring purpose by a discourse founded on simple truth,
simply stated. Such a speaker and such a discourse will be certain
of exciting true enthusiasm, for that is true enthusiasm which is
kindled by “ words fitly spoken they are then “like apples of
gold in pictures of silver.”
Speak earnestly. A discourse to be felt must be delivered earnest-
ly. Sinners will never be roused to reflection, that will terminate
in evangelical repentance, unless the words spoken to them coine
from one who is in earnest when he speaks. N either will professors
of religion be induced to seek the higher walks of Christian expe-
rience, or after all the mind that was in Christ Je3us, unless the
truth is addressed to them by one who himself feels the weight of
the great blessings he propounds for their acceptance. True effect,
or deep impression, is the result of the unfolding of the preacher’s
ideas in plainness, in simplicity, and in earnestness. This spirit,
my brethren, must be felt as a reality within yourselves, and should
never merely be assumed. The mere assumption of it would be as
cold, as cheerless, as uninfluential as a painted fire.
We should never be too anxious about the effect of our work.
Speak in the fear of God, and according to His oracles, and then
leave the result with Him. We should rather be solicitous that
our preaching be understood and felt to be in earnest. It is true,
as Michael Angelo once said: “The light of the public market place
will soon test the value that is in our work.” This is literally the
case with preaching. Take care that your utterances always be
the birth-cry of.your thoughts. Use, therefore, in all your sermons,
pure, simple and chaste words ; and let them be earnestly; yea, most
earnestly spoken. I do not wish to be understood as debarring all
ornament. It should, however, be -sparingly used, and spring out
of the thought itself. It should be one with our thoughts, not ap-
pearing to be grafted upon, but to grow out of them. Flowers are
pleasant to the senses, but a world all flowers is certainly not well
adapted to a race like ours—a poor substitute they would be for the
bread of life.14
There is one. other point, to which I would direct your attention;
the more so because I have my misgivings, that instead of its being
the first in every minister’s thoughts, especially with regard to
himself, it has become the least troublesome. However well you
may speak the word given unto you, it will he utterly impossible
to do it as it should be done, unless your hearts are purified by the
power of the Holy Ghost, applying the all-cleansing blood of the
Son of God. I hold it as a truth incontrovertible, that to be faith-
ful to the trust committed to us by the great Head of the Church,
we must ourselves measure up fully to the Gospel standard, and the
requirements made at our hands by Him from whom we have re-
ceived our call to the work of the ministry. Ho man can preach
the truths of the Gospel, as well as he who has enjoyed, and who
continues to enjoy them fully. Holiness of heart and life, entire
redemption through the precious blood of Christ, held to the end
of life,^should be the burden of every true evangelical minister’s
teaching. In order to your becoming “workmen that need not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” we say to you
with all the plainness and earnestness possible, if not as yet in your
possession, seek until you find the great jblessing of Christian perfection.
Hothing is more manifest than you may, and you will find it The
individual who fully and honestly consecrates himself, his all, to
God, and* then by an act of simple, child-like faith^ believes that
God does wow;,‘this moment, receive him wholly as his own, shall
then and there obtain the assurance of this perfection. And this
assurance, this witness of God’s Spirit, that the work is done, will
be as clear and satisfactory to his own mind, as was the witness of
the same Holy Spirit to the great work of justification, which was
wrought in him prior to the reception of this second blessing. And
be not led to postpone this work by the numerous specious attempts
that are made by many to prove it unnecessary, and which are rife
at the present time, it is entirely too late to take the position,
that it is impossible for Christian men to live without sin. He has
studied the Word of God to little purpose, who has fully yielded
himself to such an opinion. There can be no misunderstanding the
meaning of such passages of SaCred Writ as these :	Beckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin (Rom. 6: 11); Be ye therefore
perfect, even as your Father, which is in heaven, is perfect (Matt. 5:48);
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and 1 pray God your
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also
will do it. (1 Thess. 5 : 23, 24.) Tho, command of Christ, the Son of
God, is as full of meaning, and as much binding on us now, as it
was when it first fell from his lips upon the ears of those who
listened to his personal proclamation of Gospel truth ; and so like-
wise with the apostolic injunction. The Apostle Paul, so fully
taught in the mysteries of divine truth, and so pre-eminently im-
bued with the Spirit of Christ,- would never have uttered, nor left
on record in the holy oracles, for the guidance and instruction of
the Church in all ages, a prayer-for a state of Christian experience
and practice which he was persuadedxwas unattainable.15
Neither will it do for any to suppose that the blessings of justi-
fication and of entire sanctification, are one and the same; that
when a man is justified through faith in the blood of Christ, he is
at the same time entirely sanctified, and has only to “grow in grace”
until the hour of his dissolution. Our interpretation of God’s word
can never make it contrary to common sense, or to mean what God
never intended it to mean.
The truths which are essential to salvation, whether viewed in
the Greek, Latin, or English versions of the Bible, are plain,
pointed, and easy of comprehension. Let not sin, therefore, reign in
your mortal body, that yejhould obey it in the lusts thereof (Bom. 6 :
12.) The Greek word oLpetprU (hamartia), here rendered sin, em-
braces the meanings of both the Latin wordspeccatum and vitiositas;
the former signifying the outward act of transgression, the latter
the corrupt or vicious principle from which that act springs; or in
other words, the one refers to inward depravity, the other to actual
guilt. We are, therefore, taught that it is our privilege to be saved
from sin—from the depravity, corruption, or defilement of our na-
ture, as well as from the dominating power of sin or actual trans-
gressions of the law.
There is, then, an essential difference between justification and
entire sanctification, the non-observance of which has been, and
still is, a fruitful source of error in the Church of Christ. This
distinction or difference will become the more apparent, if we
examine the subject in a few of its aspects.
In a general and comprehensive sense, it may be said, justifica-
tion is what God does for us for the sake of Christ; sanctification,
what He works in us by the power of the Holy Ghost. To be
more particular:
1.	Justification is a relative, sanctification an absolute change.
The former is the remission or forgiveness of all past sins, received
Immediately upon the exercise of evangelical repentance and of the
faith of reliance on the atoning blood of Christ, on our part. It is
a change of relation, from a state of guilt to a state of free and full
pardon. Sanctification is the change wrought in the soul by the
Holy Spirit, set forth in the strong and significant terms of p, new
birth, a new creation—the renewal of the mind in righteousness and
true holiness. The change is absolute, a change from darkness to
light, from death to life, from inbred sin to inward, graciously
superinduced purity. .	„
2.	Justification necessarily precedes sanctification; whilst sanc-
tification as necessarily follows justification. Clearance from guilt,
or pardon of sin, is first pronounced by God; then in order of time
follows the new birth and adoption into the divine family. “Whom
he justified, them he also sanctified.” (Bom. 8: 30.)
3.	Justification is an act on the part of God, one and complete.
All past sins are forgiven, freely and fully. Sanctification, in gen-
eral, is at first partial. The child of God is born into the spiritual
family; he enjoys great and inestimable blessings, such as “peace
joy, patience, experience, hope, and the love of God.” (Bom. 5 :
1-5.) These follow immediately on his justification. He is in a
gracious state; but there are yet to be found in him the remains16
of the carnal mind. He is sanctified—but sanctified only in part.
He is a child of God, but not a father in Israel. He is brought
into that state of grace, in which the command will apply, “Grow
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.” (2 Pet. 3 :18.)
Let me here observe, that any thing set apart to holy purposes
or the service of God, is said to be sanctified. Thus God sanctified
the seventh day, and the* vessels of the ancient temple were sancti-
fied. And though much may remain in the heart of the justified
believer contrary to grace—in a subjugated not dominant state,
however—he is in the sense now spoken of, sanctified. . That there
is a higher state of grace to be enjoyed, is evident from the whole
tenor of the Old and New Testament, of which we shall speak more
fully hereafter. It is evident that this state of grace, either in its
incipiency or maturity, cannot be the same as the justifying act of
God, which secures at once the remission of all past offences.
4. From what has been said, you will perceive another essential
distinction. Justification can apply only to the guilty—to those,
who, under condemnation, are seeking for pardon, by repenting
and believing in Christ. “He justified the ungodly,” (Eom. 4 : 5)
—those who, up to the very moment of the performance of God's
act of pardoning mercy, are ungodly, in the full possession of guilt
and depravity.
Sanctification, even in its lowest sense, is enjoyed by those only
who are already justified, whose sins are already forgiven; and the
attainment of the higher state of sanctification is, without excep-
tion, urged upon those only who are children of God and accepted
through the Beloved.
There is, therefore, evidently in the Sacred Scriptures, a dis-
tinction made between justification and sanctification and between
sanctification and entire sanctification ; and it is remarkable with
what clearness and definiteness John Wesley pointed out and
maintained this scriptural distinction, in the very first Minutes of
Conference of which we have account, and which more recently
was as luminously exhibited in the official Conference Catechism
drawn up by the pious and gifted Watson. These old records of'
Wesleyan Theology or doctrine are invaluable at this day, to the
Methodist ministers, itinerant or local; in fact, to all who wish to
know the “ old landmarks ” and abide by them,—though I fear not
a few, of whom better things shonld be expected, regard them as
effete, as old rubbish, suited to a former dark age, but not' to
these present enlightened, progressive, accommodating and refined
times!
Allow me, however, a lover of John Wesley and the Fathers,
to present to your notice a few extracts from the Minutes, bearing
on the subject in hand:
“Q. What is it to be justified ?
“A. To be pardoned, and received into God’s favor, into such a
state, that if we continue therein, we shall be finally saved.
“Q. What sins are consistent with justifying faith?
“A. No willful sin. If a believer willfully sins,\he casts away his
faith. Neither is it possible he should have justifying faith again,
without previously repenting.17
“Q. What is it to be sanctified ?
“A. To be renewed in the image of God, in righteousness and
true holiness.
“Q. Is faith the condition, or the instrument of sanctification?
“A. It is both the condition and the instrument of it. When we
begin t<s believe, then sanctification begins. And as faith increases,
holiness increases, till we are created anew.
“Q. What is implied in a perfect Christian f
“A. The loving the Lord our God with all our heart, and with
all our mind, and soul and strength. Deut. 6: 5, 30: 6; Ezek. 26 :
25-29.
“Q. Does this imply that all inward sin is taken away ?
“A. Without doubt; or how could he be said to be saved 4 from
all his uncleannesses?’ Ezek. 36 : 29.
“Q. W hen does inward sanctification begin ?
“A. In the moment we are justified. The seed of every virtue
is then sown in the soul. From that time the believer gradually
dies to sin, and grows in grace. Yet sin remains in him; yea,
the seed of all sin, till he is sanctified throughout, in spirit, soul and
body.
“Q. Is there any clear promise of this ? That God will save us
from all sin ?
“A. There is : Psal. 103: 8, 'He shall redeem Israel from all his
sins.’
“This is more largely expressed in the Prophecy of Ezekiel:
‘Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean;
from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.
—I will save you from all your uncleannesses,’ 36: 25, 29. No
promise can be more clear. And to this the Apostle plainly refers
in that exhortation, ‘Having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves
from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear
of God.’ 2 Cor. 7: 1. Equally clear and express is that ancient
promise, ‘The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the
heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul.’ Deut. 30 : 6.
After quoting St. John’s Epistle 3: 8, Ephesians 5 : 25-27, and
Romans 8: 3, 4, Mr. Wesley proceeds :
“Q. Does the New Testament afford any further ground for ex-
pecting to be saved from all sin ?
“A; Undoubtedly it does, both in those prayers and commands,
which are equivalent to the strongest assertions.
“Q. What prayers do you mean ?
“A; Prayers for entire sanctification; which, were there no such
thing, would be mere mockery of God. Such in particular are: 1.
‘Deliver us from evil;’ or rather ‘from the evil one.’ Now when
this is done, when we are delivered from all evil, there can be no
sin remaining. 2. ‘Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also
which shall believe on me through their word : that they all may
be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may
be one in us: I in them and thou in me, that they may be made
perfect in one.’ John 17 : 20, 21, 23. 3. ‘I bow my knees unto the18
God arid Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—that he would grant
you—that ve, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to
comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth and length and
heighth, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God ? ” Eph. 3 : 14,
16-19. 4. ‘The very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I
pray God, your whole spirit, and soul and body, be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ 1 Thess. 5 : 23.
“Q. What command is there to the same effect?
“A. 1. ‘Be thou perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect.’ Matt. 6, ult. 2. ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.’
Matt. 22 : 37. But if the love of God fill all the heart, there can
be no sin there.
“Q. But how does it appear that this is to be done before the
article of death ?
“A. First, from the very nature of a command, which is not
given to the dead, but to the living.
“Therefore, ‘Thou shalt love God with all thy heart,’ cannot
mean, Thou shalt do this when thou diest, but when thou livest.
“Secondly, from express texts of Scripture:	1a ‘The grace of
God that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men ; teaching
us, that havingrenounced an-si Troths not (apeipamenoi) ungodliness and
worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this
present world; looking for the glorious appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us
from all iniquity ; and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works.’ Tit. 2: 11-14. 2. ‘He hath raised up an horn of
salvation for us—to perform the mercy promised to our fathers;
•the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would
grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hands of our
enemies, should serve him without fear in holiness and righteous-
ness before him, all the days of our life.’ Luke l: 69, &c.”
Such are the clear and satisfactory teachings of our Founder on
this important subject, as early as the years 1743 to 1748; and if
you consult that small but valuable book, the No. 2 Catechism of
the Wesleyan Methodists, republished by Messrs. Lane & Scott of
our Book Concern, which let me say contains a body of sound di-
vinity , plainly and forcibly expressed, you will find therein a distinct
recognition of the same truths.
Better than all, they are the teachings of God’s Word, as the quota-
tions therefrom (and others might have been given) abundantly
prove. Behind that Word, or away from it, we must not go. We
must measure up to it fully. Taking the Bible as it is, majestic in
its own simplicity and truth, studying it prayerfully for light to
fall on the sacred page, we cannot but perceive the erroneousness
of that opinion, which would confound the essentially distinct but
cognate doctrines of justification and entire sanctification.
In the order in which God mercifully reveals the truth to us, he
asserts, with peculiar emphasis, man’s privilege to be saved: 1.
From the guilt of actual sin. 2. From the dominion of, or reigning
power of sin. 3. From all inbred corruption, or heart depravity.19
The great end of Christ’s coming into the world was man’s pardon,
man’s obedience, and man’s purity. For this he made atonement—
“endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the
right hand of the throne of God.” Him “God hath set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteous-
ness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance
of God.” He came to “destroy,” abolish “the works of the devil”—
“to redeem us from all iniquity”—to “perfect us in love;” and so
well satisfied is the Father with the mediatorial work of the Son,
that both his love and justice stand pledged to bestow these great
blessings on all who receive the atonement. “If we confess our
sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9); to save us from the guilt,
the dominion, the corruption and the final consequences of sin, as
well as to bestow purity of heart, perfect love; in a word, that
“holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”
We have thus the more elaborately dwelt upon this part of the
subject—a duty devolving upon you as preachers of the Gospel.
We have done so for two reasons:
1.	It cannot be denied that other subjects than this have obtained
in the Church of God, and which are made the absorbing topics of
the pulpit. It is painfully manifest to every mind alive to the purity
of the Church, that in some parts of our work at least, this vital
subject is almost entirely ignored. Many of our young ministers,
and not a few of our members, are yielding their assent to what
was called in the earlier days of Methodism, the Zinzendorfeau
error. This error which John Wesley met, and, so far as his {Soci-
eties were concerned, annihilated, is becoming rife among us.
2.	That to you, and your preaching, under God, as local preach-
ers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, we must look to stem this
torrent, and bring back the days of primitive Methodism upon us,
when the subject of holiness shall become prominent. I, as an
individual, do utterly despair for our Zion, in this particular, unless
j^ou come up to her help:	There are many who think with me on
this subject. You have the ability to make yourselves familiar
with this subject in theory and practice, in all its aspects. And
you have the ability, likewise, to make your ministrations felt.
When, my brethren, will that day dawn upon us ? Will you not
at this Convention consecrate yourselves to the attainment and the
spread of vital holiness ? The sainted Asbury, addressing the Gen-
eral Conference the last time his voice was ever heard in their
midst, when in session over the very spot where his mortal remains
afterward so long rested in silence, with outstretched arms, said:
“ You must come back again, you must come back again, to where I
knew you fifty years ago, or God will raise another to do His work for
Him, and to them will He give your crown." You may rest assured
that this is His work. He will carry it on; by us, if we will per-
mit Him to use us; by another people, if we will not. Does it not
behoove us to inquire where we are to-day in reference to it, and
what are the signs of the times ? Coming events are casting their
shadows before them.20
For these reasons specially, i have entered upon this subject
more fully, and trust, under God, it may be made useful to you, at
least in arousing you to the importance of at once seeking this
grace. Is there one who hears me at this time, who feels it
“Worse than death his God to love
And not his God alone
Let me ask you in the name of God to stop, reflect, pray, conse-
crate your all to Him, and then in simple faith roll yourselves with
all your burden on Jesus, and you shall be fully saved this hour.
Yes, this very hour.	.
Are others of you so absorbed in the work devolving upon you of
calling sinners to repentance, as to have lost sight of the impor-
tance to you of this vital subject almost entirely ? Oh, what mo-
mentous truths come rushing upon thomind at this present moment!
Truths which I have’no doubt affect you sensibly! In view of them
and of their nature, now resolve, that as a preparatory step of
leading others into the enjoyment of this inestimable blessing, you
will preach and enforce it, from hearts themselves purified. Were
there a universal revival of Christian holiness over the land, among
the first blessings that would come to us, one for which we have
been dayly crying to God, would be Peace again in all our borders;
the sword sheathed, and brother no longer in deadly conflict with
brother. Prosperity and unity would again be ours, and we
should go forth to prosecute the work of our glory, in the enjoy-
ment of a land and a government, the like of which the sun has
never shone upon.
If you .measure up to the full stature of men in Christ Jesus; if
you live in the enjoymont of a zeal for souls, tempered by this
great grace, then shall sinners by hundreds be converted, and the
souls of believers be “built up in their most holy faith.” If these
exercises to-day be crowned with such results, we shall be amply
paid for stopping in the midst of the business of life, coming up to
this city for a few days, and looking each other in the face. Most
earnestly and fervently do I pray, that these results may follow
the present session of the Convention of the Local Preachers of
these United States. I beseech you, my brethren, delay not so im-
portant business a single hour. Be holy men of God,—always
going forth in His name and fear, “weeping ” whenever and wher-
ever you may be called. Then doubtlesss you shall come again with
rejoicing, bringing your sheaves with you. It is your duty before God
to preach Christian Perfection; to prove from the Holy Scripture’
that it may and must be had now. By faith—by simple, implicit’
faith, now.
“The night cometh when no man can work.” When it casts its
shadow about you, as soon it must, your time can never be recalled.
Your hearers will have heard you for the last time. When you
approach death and he looks you in the face, you will have entirely
a new train of views and feelings on the office and work of the min-
istry. That holy man of God, our beloved brother, the Bev.
Thomas Bassford, of the city of Baltimore, who always exempli-
fied the doctrine of holiness in his life, said, when passing death’s
swollen stream:	“My soul is so overwhelmed with the views I now21
have of the all-sufficiency and fullness of the Atonement, that I could
wish myself restored to health again, that I might once more preach to
the people” Oh, than you may feel it now and always !
Dear brethren, bear with me a little longer. It is more than
probable that I shall never again address you. Soon will
“—this poor lisping, stamnrring tongue
Lie silent in the grave.”
Thank God, to me this thought brings no sting with it. I live
in the possession of a peace “ to sensual minds unknown.” I feel
not one anxious care for time or eternity: my all is in the hands of
an all-wise and good God. Since it pleased God, in His infinite
mercy, to communicate to my soul the abiding witness of that per-
fect love I have been endeavoring to enforce on you, the assurance
of that grace that	#
“ ascertains the kingdom mine,”
I look on death with vastly different feelings. I can now view the
grave as a quiet retreat from all the ills of life, sanctified by the
presence of Jesus before. On this account I would seek to improve
this last opportunity to the glory of the Father, as I shall wish I
had, when called to the judgment of the great day. That which
was, will be no more. Yesterday will never return to be improved.
This day is rapidly passing. Soon it will join those “beyond the
flood.” Work! O, work! well and diligently, uwhilstit is called to-
day ; the night cometh vshen no man can work” If you lose this day
by lukewarmness, or by prostituting your ministry to other subjects
than those that will awaken the people to “ work ” also ; or if the
day be only partially improved, it will not again bless you with its
heavenly light and opportunities of working. Whilst then its
light is burning, see to it, that you use it for the purpose of making
other hearts feel as does your own, and use it to the best advantage.
When its light shall cease to burn, then will you indeed feel that
“ it is too late ” to discharge neglected duties or improve neglected
privileges. The kingdoms of this world will be a sum too paltry to
be given for its recovery. Alas ! alas ! no price can recall it! It will
never return l
You may die without the knowledge of many things, and you
and the world be none the worse for it. The knowledge of the
arts and sciences may never be yours. You may not be able to
measure the distance^ of the planets, or even call them by their
proper names; you may not be able to calculate eclipses, or track
eccentric comet in its course: you may not be able to penetrate in
the arcana of nature, or expound its chemical mysteries ; you may
not be able to comprehend the German abstractions or the so-called
philosophical transcendentalism of the day.' Without the knowledge
of these things you may live happily, die triumphantly, and pass
to Abraham’s bosom, to be “ for ever with the Lord.” But know
it well—know it now—whilst you have the time to improve' that
you never can come to that land of the blessed, without Love—■
Perfect Love. For only the “pure in heart” shall usee God”
I am no polemic, engaged in maintaining a system in opposition
toothers:	God forbid that I should turn from better subjects to
quarrel with any man about his opinions either in theology or poli-22
tics. I have no time to spend in this way. To my mind, the
•Word of God is sufficiently plain and easy of comprehension. “A
way-faring man though a fool need not err therein.” Let your
heart but be right with God; give me the satisfactory evidence that
you are a Christian; that you love the Lord Jesus Christ in sin-
cerity and truth; that your love is so comprehensive as to embrace
in its arms, all of every kindred, tongue, color, name ; that you follow
the example, tread in the footsteps, and have imbibed the spirit of
the Lord of life and glory,—and I desire no more. We should be, as
Christian men and Christian ministers, heartily sick of mere
opinions, abstractly so called in the language of our venerable
founder the immortal Wesley, we under God, should “loathe them.”
Let us aspire to nobler and to simpler and purer things ! I like
to stop, nay, I love to stop, in the midst of the business of the day,
to visit the place I have selected for my sepulture, together with
the precious dust to be found there already. Not unfrequently I
do so. It soothes all my feelings, softens all the asperities of life.
and I return again to its avocations a better man. It is wise fre-
quently to think of our own mortality, and of the time when our
life’s short day shall end. “Verily, there is but a step between thee
and death,”—should always, and in all things be uppermost in our
minds. Be it said of me, when death has passed upon my form and
I have vanished from among the living:	Here rest the remains of
one who loved God perfectly himself, and wap only content with
winning others to the same enjoyment,—and I shall be satisfied,
fully satisfied. To me, it will be a prouder and more enduring
structure than if my name was chiseled in Westminister Abbey,
amongst the mighty dead, who there await the fiat of the last day,
“Awake, ye dead, and come to judgment.”
I humbly trust it is the fixed and settled purpose of every one of
you, so to live always, that death, judgment, and eternity, shall be
before your eyes continually.
In conclusion, my brethern, permit me to say to you, “my heart’s
desire and prayer to God” for you, is, that every one of you may
be brought at once into this broad place of Christian experience.
If you will bring your all to Christ, consecrate yourself entirely to
him, and now rely, by simple, implicit, naked faith—(I like that
term naked faith: a faith that believes it to be so because God has
said it, without having reference to any collateral circumstances
whatever) by naked faith on Him, as your full Saviour, God will
at once introduce you into the enjoyment of this great blessing,
and give you the assurance of it. Then in the fullness of your
hearts, you shall be enabled to say:
“Tis done; thou dost this moment save,—
With full salvation bless;
Redemption through thy blood I have,
And spotless love and peace.”
Will you do it ^ Oh, will you ?CENTENARY ADDRESS,
DELIVERED IN THE JOHN’S STREET CHURCH, NEW YORK,
OCTOBER 2d, 1866.
Fathers and Brethren—One hundred years ago, and more,
Philip Embury And Robert Strawbridge, two Local Preachers of
the Methodist church, emigrated from Ireland to this country, and
both simultaneously began to preach Jesus and the Resurrection—
the first named in the city of flew York, and the second, on Sams
Creek, Frederick Co., Md. Philip Embury was born in 1728, or
1730 (most probably the latter period) in Ballingarane, near Rath-
keal, county of Limerick. Philip when a boy was sent to the German
school, then taught by a man Darned Gier, in Ballingarane. After-
wards he went to the English school. When he arrived at a suit-
able age, he was bound to a carpenter, and served his time with
credit to himself, and to the entire satisfaction of his master. Af-
ter serving out his apprenticeship, he worked at his trade until his
emigration to America. He was converted to God, on Monday,
December 25th, 1752, and joined the Methodist Society, in his
neighberhood, the same year. He soon began to exercise himself
as a local preacher and class-leader, and continued to do so for five
or six years. Those of the Palatines, amounting to about three
thousand, who had emigrated to America, and settled in Hew York
and Pennsylvania, kept up a correspondence with their friends and
relations, who had been left in Ireland. Their letters contained
glowing descriptions of America, and were instrumental.in influ-
encing many of them also to come to this country.
Mr. Embury and his friends, with others, were thereby persuaded
to come over for the purpose of mending their fortunes in this new
world. This he made up his mind to do in the spring of 1760.
After all his necessary arrangements were made ho started and
landed in Hew York on the 10th of August, 1760. From the time
he landed until 1766, we know but little of him. It is not probable
however that he spent the whole of his time in inglorious ease.
When we consider that he was an Irishman, that up to the time of
his leaving Ireland, he exercised the functions of a minister, and
availed himself of the very last opportunity of preachingtopeople from
the side of the ship; that he was descended immediately from the
Palatines, who doubtless oft repeated the story of their wrongs and
and sufferings for Christ and the Gospel’s sake in his hearing; it is
not to be supposed that he was easily discouraged, and that he re-
mained here the whole of these years without preaching Christ to
the people. Such a conclusion as this is preposterous in the extreme,24
and would cast a shade upon his name. Doubtless he preached
soon after his arrival and continued to do so, until in his estimation
there was no hope of getting a congregation to hear him. Under
such circumstances, it is probable that he only occasionally preached
until 1766, when the famous appeal was made to him by Mrs.
Barbara Heck. In the Providence of God she was made instru-
mental in arousing into new life his energies, and he at once-com-
menced in his own house on Barrack Street, now Park Place, the
work of preaching Christ and the resurrection to a congregation
of five others beside himself.—A work which shall know no end
until the final consummation of all things. In about four months he
was assisted greatly by Captain. Thomas Webb, another local
preacher, who was at that time stationed with the British army
at Albany, and who visited Hew York. Such was the increase of
their hearers, that they now hired a larger room near the barrack
in this region, and finally the Old Rigging Loft at 120 William
street. It is a remarkable coincidence in the further progress of
Methodism in this country, that it should have commenced its more
permanent operations in Hew York in a Rigging Loft; the first of
its efforts in Philadelphia, was in a Rigging Loft; and in Baltimore
Jikewise, its first demonstrations were in a Rigging Loft Our min-
istry in this particular followed at least unconsciously as far as
possible the first of the Apostles’ (Paul) who himself was a tent
maker, and it is to be presumed, made also the rigging of the ves-
sels of his day. It is still more remarkable that the first Conference
was held June 25, 1744, in London, and consisted of ten persons,
viz: John Wesley, Charles Wesley, John Hodges, Henry Piers, Samuel
Taylor, John Merriton; Lay Preachers: Thomas Richards, Thomas
Maxfield, John Burnett, and John Downs. The first conference
in America was held in Philadelphia, likewise, in June, 1773 and
consisted of ten preachers, viz: Thdmas Rankin, George Shadford,
John King, William Walters, Francis Asbury, Robert Strawbridge,
Abraham Whitworth, Joseph Yearbryy Richard Wright and Robert
Williams.
Captain Webb’s popularity soon filled it and a still larger place
was looked for. This resulted in the space of two years, in the
building of Wesley Chapel on this, the site of what is now known
as John street, Hew York. The dedicatory sermon was preached
by Philip Embury himself, on the 30th of October, 1768.
Captain Webb was awakened and converted under Mr. John
Wesley. When he came to Albany, Hew York, about 1766, he
had family worship in his house regularly, in which his neighbors
occasionally united, on which occasion he sometimes exhorted.
Captain Webb was the leading man in building Wesley Chapel.
But for his efforts it is probable it would not have been built until
a much later period. He headed the subscription with thirty
pounds, and was instrumental in collecting thirty two pounds more
in Philadelphia. Subsequently he returned to England and event-
ually died very suddenly in Bristol,in the evening of December 20th,
1796, in the 72nd year of his age, and was buried at Portland
Chapel, which he had erected. In the Chapel there is a tablet to
his memory, with his name inscribed upon it.25
Bobert Stra'wbridge was born at Drumsnagh, in the county of
Leitrim, Ireland. Soon after his conversion he moved from this
place to the county of Sligo, on account of the storm of persecution
(the inhabitants being chiefly papists) which followed on his preach-
ing the Gospel at the former place. In the latter he met a people
congenial to his feelings, and his labors were greatly blessed. Sub-
sequently he married a young woman of Terryhugan, and they
both emigrated to America in 1760 and settled on Sams Creek.*
He opened his house for preaching, formed in it a class-meeting,
and Very soon after built, what was then and subsequently known
as the “Log Meeting House,” about one mile from his residence.
It was indeed a “Log House,” and a rude structure; this house was
built in Itf64, and possibly in 1763. From this he rapidly formed
other appointments, and became in fact an Itinerant, preaching in
Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. With reference to the labors
of this excellent and useful servant of God, our knowledge is not con-
jectural. I have now in my possession some letters, written by
different individuals, at different times, at a distance from each
other, and without concert on the part of the writers, which dis-
close some interesting facts. Mr. Michael Laird, who subsequently
settled in Philadelphia, was born April 30th, 1771. He obtained
his knowledge of these facts from his father, who was intimate
with Mr. Strawbridge, and fully conversant with what is stated in
his letter. Mr S. came to America with his wife and children, and
settled on Sams Creek, Frederick county, Maryland. He opened
his house at once for divine service, and continued preaching
therein regularly. These efforts soon after resulted in the awaken-
ing and conversion of several who attended.
In another communication, it is stated that Henry Maynard was
baptised by Straw7bridge when he was four years old. At that time
Mr. S. was preaching regularly at John Maynard’s, the half brother
of Henry Maynard, at whose house he had stated appointments.
Henry accompanied his father to one of these appointments, and
Mr. S. baptized him at the spring which w7as near at hand. Henry
Maynard wTas born August 12th, 1757, and died December 28th,
1839, aged 82 years. Mr. Ephraim Maynard, still living on Sams
Creek, in a conversation with Mr. Thomas C. Buckle, artist, on
the 17th of May, 1866, stated that he was conversant w ith the facts
of his brother Henry’s baptism; says that Henry was four years
old, and that it took place at John Maynard’s, at the spring, a few
hundred yards from the house, at which Bobert strawbridge had
been preaching, and that Strawbridge had regular appointments
there. John Maynard was the half brother of Henry Maynard.
I am more particular in stating these facts to show that the Bev.
W. Crook, who recently contributed for the Irish Evangelist, the
account of a deeply interesting visit that he had made to the birth-
place of Bobert Strawbridge, was in error with reference to the
precise time in which Strawbridge emigrated to America. You
will find this account over the signature of “ IP,” in the Christian
Advocate of August 2nd, 1866. It is true Mr. Crook does not state
with any certainty whatever, the time of the emigration. He £hys:
“I suppose him to have found a home in Sligo, about 1761;” and
* See Appendix.26
again, “probably in 1776, with his young wife, he bid farewell to
Ireland, to find like Embury and Williams, his life-woi% and his final
resting place in the new world.” Mr. Crook’s own language taken in
connection with the above facts about Henry Maynard, show him
to have been in error, and likewise show, in how much the “Rev.
Doctor’’ Hamilton, (of Washington, D. C.) was in fault, as stated
by “W,” in the Christian Advocate. John Maynard, the proprietor
of the house, was himself a Methodist. This makes it positive that
Mr. S. had been engaged in preaching, prior to 1762, and fully cor-
roborates the statement contained in Mr. Laird’s letter, viz : ‘that
he commenced his labors immediately after his settlement in
Maryland. Bishop Asbury himself, after holding in 1801 a con-
ference at Henry Willis’s on Pipe Creek, in the immediate vicinity
of Mr. Strawbridge’s dwelling, says: “Here Mr. Strawbridge
formed the first society in Maryland and America. (Journal, ,.vol.
III, page 27.) This language is unequivocal, and was doubtless
written after the reception of information obtained by him on the
very ground itself. By reference to his journal, we find that on
April 30th 1801, he dined at Alexander Warfield’s on Sams Creek,
and pushed on from there to Henry Willis’s on Pipe Creek, where
he proposed to hold a conference, at which conference there were
present about forty members. From the relations of Alexander
Warfield to this Chapel, and from the full knowledge of Hemy
Willis himself concerning it, it is rendered indubitable that the
Bishop here received more correct information as to the mat-
ter, and was thus induced to write this statement in his journal.
I have spoken thus plainly on this subject, for the purpose oi
giving you in as short space as possible, the facts in the case, and
putting you in possession of correct information on this subject,
mooted as we know it is. The first native American preacher was
Richard Owen; the first native Itinerant preacher was William
Watters, both of whom were Marylanders. And we believe it
firmly, and here record our testimony to it, that the first Society
and Chapel raised in America was in Maryland. This we state not
for the purpose of eliciting controversy or ministering simply to
pride of opinion, bjit we fully believe that the evidence which has
been, and may be added, warrants the assertion. A truce to all
controversy now on the subject. The highest judicatory of our
church has fixed on this year for the celebration of the event.
Though positive in our opinion as to time, we however cheerfully
yield to the decision, and joyfully celebrate it as the occasion in
communion with our brethren.
The labors of Mr. Strawbridge were greatly blessed in the con
version of souls, whom he gathered into classes. Some of these
afterwards became preachers; four or five at least from Sams
Creek alone, greatly extending the work of God. Richard Owen,
a man of very precious memory was pre-eminently useful as a local
preacher in that day, preaching far and wide, opening the way for
the formation of circuits. He outlived Strawbridge, and eventually
preached his funeral discourse, over his remains, under a very large
tretf, that stood in the yard of Mr. Wheeler, near Baltimore, at
whose dwelling he expired.* His remains now sleep in the family
**■ * They have, since this was written, been removed to Mount Olivet Cemetery, and a suit-
able monument erected over them.27
burial ground in this place, to which they were borne on the
shoulders of attendants, whilst the whole audience were engaged
in singing the admirable hymn of Charles Wesley, found on page
653 of our present collection :
“How blest is our brother bereft
Of all that could burden his mind!
How easy the soul that has left,
This wearisome body behind.
We have thought it would be interesting to you, to hear this much
of the early history of these men of precious memory who were
owned of God, in the establishment of Methodism in this country.
I here venture the prediction that the names of Wesley Chapel in
New York, and the Log Meeting House on Sams Creek, Maryland,
will become to our people, familiar as household words, and more
memorable than any structures that now, or hereafter, may grace
the land.
We have devoted this day as local preachers to the celebration
of the centenary of Methodism in the United States of North
America. A period of no common interest in our history, and
which should be employed, not for the purpose of eulogising our-
selves, or the system itself under which we have beeen gathered,
but to unite our hearts and voices in praise to God, for what he
he has wrought in the land during the one hundred years that are
so near their close. Doubtless it is perfectly lawful whilst con-
templating such a theme as this; such a theme as is found in being
the instrument in his hand of accomplishing so much to praise God
in unmistakable strains. More particularly should we be humbled
before him whilst thus engaged in his praise, that we are permit-
ted through this instrumentality to occupy places in this branch
of the Christian church.
This day many of us owe all we have, and all we are, under God,
to Methodism. One hundred years ago, it started on its
heaven appointed mission, and when it is remembered how much
in that time has been accomplished, the vast number who have
been brought to God—part of them now in Heaven—and part on
earth, no man- in his proper mind will suppose for a moment
that we should either hold our peace or speak tamely on the sub-
ject, and no man shall stop our rejoicings. “It is the Lord’s work
and marvelous in our eyes.” To Him be all the praise; to Him the
praise belongs. Through the instrumentality of local preachers
has Methodism been established on this continent, and we their
humble successors are permitted to enjoy Methodism which is but
the synonym of the religion of the Bible,—true and vival Christian-
ity the loving God “with all the heart, and mind, and strengthand
our neighbors as ourselves.
We must allow that her origin in our country has been very
humble; it has been in a cloud of mercy in the moral heaven, no
larger than a “man’s hand.” One century ago, Methodism, as she
now is, was not. Now, standing in the centre between the century
that has passed and that which is to come, we behold that Embu-
ry’s congregation of five persons in New. York and Strawbridge’s
small collection of‘persons in Maryland, have multiplied to hundreds
of thousands over the vast area of our country, from the Canadian2s •
settlements in the north, to the Gulf of Mexico and California. The
handful of men that assembled at her first conference in 1783, con-
sisting of ten preachers representing 1160 members, has increased
to 60 conferences, 6821 itinerant, and 8205 local preachers, 928,320
members, alone, in the M. E. Church proper, excluding the south-
ern church, the Canadian church and other small branches, all of
which sprang from the original church founded in 1776, and which
was organized regularly at the Christmas conference of 1784. So that
the church has increased from the first statistical account in 1783 of
1160 members, to the number published the last year, of 1,901,164.
Allowing three persons non communicant for one communicant,
which is esteemed to be a fair estimate, the church has under her
immediate influence 7,604,656 of the population of the nation, which
is from one-forth to one-fifth of the inhabitants of these United
States.
If we add to this number those in Canada, resulting from the
movement made in 1776, we have 1,972,770 church members, 13,650
traveling preachers and 15,000 local preachers as the result. In
the above estimate we have not included the membership of the
church south, she having published no statistics since the rebellion
was first inaugurated. According to the latest estimate Of members
of the church south added to that of the church usually called
north, she now numbers l,628,320members, 9,421 traveling preach-
ers, and 13,205 local preachers. In addition, we*have 191 colleges
and academies with 31,106 students.
If we turn from this astounding picture of success, and contem-
plate what she is doing in her church property, her book concerns,
her Sunday Schools, and her vast missionary works, we must ac-
knowledge that she has at the present moment a vast moral, intel-
lectual and social power under lier control, the amount of which
cannot be fully estimated. Dispersed over the lands, mingling with
the millions of our inhabitants, she is exerting with her thousands of
itinerant, and tens of thousands of local preachers and exhorters,
a mighty protestant influence that will be felt in the coming years
of our existance, to be mighty through God to the pulling down of
the strongholds of sin and the Devil.
Let us, my brethren, turn from this earthly state, to the heavenly,
where \ye contemplate the millions more who have been “redeemed
and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb,” through her
instrumentality, and are now seated on the right hand of the
Majesty on High. We are lost in astonishment and led to inquire
what hath God wrought. I am sure your hearts beat in unison
with mine in uttering the fervent prayer that she may never for-
get the ‘‘Bock whence she was hewn, and the hole of the pit whence
she was digged.” Then in the centuries to come, God will own
her as one of his great means of evangelising this continent and
the whole world, and.peopling it with hosts more of redeemed and
disenthralled spirits. We rejoice to believe, that God, who has
preserved her intact and untarnished in the midst of the contumely
of the past, to become what she is now, will preserve her as Hhe
apple of his eye ”, to live long in the earth. She will finish her
Godlike work and die, when no more souls are to be converted ; no29
more to be entirely sanctified ; when the angel of Heaven, commis-
sioned for the act, shall uswear by Mm that sittith upon the throne,
time shall be no longer.'1 And not till then will she die; the
predictions of some to the contrary, notwithstanding. The remem-
brance of her shall never, never perish.
Such has been the origin and such the commencement of Meth-
odism, the hundreth year of whdse existence myriads through-
out this land have and will yet celebrate during the present
year. Who could have supposed that men despised and held up
to the world in ridicule, were the very men whom God had chosen
to establish and perpetuate that form of Christianity through
which so many thousands and tens of thousands throughout our
country have been saved. Our fathers saw it, but dimly fore-
shadowed it is true, and they and their successors have never tired
in pushing forward successfully this glorious work, from strength
to strength and from conquering unto conquest.
From 1760 until 1866, she has been flying through the midst of
heaven with the trumpet of the Gospel to her lips, until it can be
most truthfully said, that there is not a city, or town, or village,
'through the length and breath of these lands, where she is not, and
where her name is not known. The masses of our people have
been impressed with her divinity, and her power has gone out to
the very ends of the land. This seed which was once the smallest
of all seeds, has. sprung up, and has become so vast as to afford
nutrition and shelter for hundreds of thousands who have flocke.d
to it. It may now be seen vigorous in its growth, on every hand
and on every quarter, covered with foliage, and laden with fruit.
“ The little one has become a thousand and the small one a strong nation.11
Methodism is a self-supporting system, and therefore, no wonder
she has grown to be what she is. Her ministry have been the N
mean6 of converting myriads, and from these have originated men
of various talents, who in their turn have been called, and commis-
sioned,, and sent forth as “heralds of the cross,” spreading the
words of truth in her own communion and the communion of the
sister churches of our land. These have been instrumental in win-
ning others for Christ, many of whom have become ministers of
righteousness. Thus she has progressively gone on, until she has
become what we now see her.
“When he first the work began,
Small and feeble was its day;
Now the word doth swiftly run,
Now it wins its widening way.”
Methodism still exists. Its nature and design are still the same;
they have never changed. Her nature is not sectarian in the least.
Her design is not to proselyte. . She beholds men going down to
death and hell on every hand, and calls mightily on them to “turn
and live.11 She snatches from the ranks of the destroyer, the idle
and the profligate, and takes them to her own communion places
them beside the better and more intellectual, there found teaching
then* habits of diligence and economy, thereby saving them effect-
ually from the vice and immorality necessarily consequent upon
lives of idleness and profligacy, and thus elevating them to piety
and wealth. Every unprejudiced mind will at once acknowledge, thatin general, she has been foremost in every enterprise that had in
vi^w the glory of G-od, in the well being of society at large.
Through the labors of her sons, the swearer has been taught to
swear no more; and the drunkard to turn from his cups, and has
made them both thus useful members of society. Many, very many
of those addicted to such, and similiar habits, have been freely
justified by faith in Christ; have lived in the enjoyment of the per-
fect love of God, and after “ witnessing a good confession before many
witnesses” have in their final hour triumphed most gloriously over
their “last enemy,” and are now 1 forever with the Lord”
Indeed, my brethren, we have great cause of sincere gratitude
to God, that turning in every direction we behold her light shining,
not in faithful gleams as the meteors flash, but as a steady and
burning flame. She may be compared to the smallest rivulet,
which at its head might be swallowed by a thirsty ox at a single
draught, but in the end has become with its tributaries, the mighty
river, bearing upon its bosom /the commerce, the wealth, and the
navies of the world.
Think not that the good she has been instrumental in accom
plishing has been wrought without vast labor and difficulty/
Much, and very formidable has been the opposition which she has
had to meet. But she has met it all in the name of the Lord, and
has fully triumphed. Within the memory of some now living, she
has confronted and overcome most infuriated mobs. Her followers
have been held up to public contumely as imposters, hypocrits,
fanatics, enthusiasts. Out of it all she has come triumphing over
all her opponents, and never has enjoyed more settled peace than
at the present moment. Her doctrines never were better under-
stood and on the whole more faithfully preached, and her discipline
more fully settled. And through the abundant liberality of her
children, the present year we are destined to behold her more than
ever pressing forward, overcoming every difficulty. Relieved from
her pecuniary disabilities in many places, .she will be better and
more fully prepared to show to coming generations her power and
efficiency. All these marvellous things have been accomplished
by the use of the same simple means, that God has always been
pleased to make succeed. Those who have been called by him to
the work of propagating Christianity, have been for the most part
little and unknown; poor as to this world’s goods, and by the
masses generally esteemed illiterate. Contrary as this may seem
to all our preconceived ideas of what is proper, it is nevertheless
the way God has seen fit to work, and therefore it is eminently
suitable. “Not many wise men after the flesh are called, that no flesh
should glory in his presence” In the inscrutable councels of his own
wisdom, he has called and thrust into his vineyard those who have
been savingly converted to him, and who have had on the whole
but few opportunities for literary accomplishments. The excep-
tions to this rule have been rare indeed. It will be well with us as
a people, that we always bear in mind the ways of God inrthis
particular. I yield to no man in my attachment to literature,—I
yield to no man in the great regard I have for our literary institu-
tions. I believe firmly they are doing for us an incalculable amount31
i
* of good, that will in the future tell upon the interest of the church.
7 But at the same time I would seriously caution all concerned in
them with reference to the estimate they put upon them touching
the ministry. Hone can produce from the holy scriptures anything
that will go in the least to show that a collegiate education is in
any way indisjpensible to a valid, energetic, and successful ministry.
There is need for caution on this point, to those who have charge
of such institutions, as well as of young men who are engaged in .
the acquisition of knowledge therein. As a people, we had better
« adhere to our old land marks in authorizing candidates among us
to preach the Gospel. Let our inquiry be—1st. Has heibeen truly
converted? 2nd. Has he now grace? 3rd. Has he fruit? If he
hath these, though he may not make any pretentions to the higher
walks of literature, let us welcome him among ns as a teacher of
righteousness. Those whom we trust as ministers of the Lord
Jesus, should be in every sense of the words umen of God” If any
such have the time and inclination to devote themselves to the ac-
quirement of a full collegiate course, let them do so,, and let those
who may undertake to direct their studies, see to it that they
maintain their integrity, coupled with an ardent, burning zeal,
“To save poor souls out of the fire,
To snatch them from the verge of hell,
And turn them to a pardoning God.”
Let us take care that in our passionate ardor for the success of
our institutions of learning, we do not overstep the bounds of pru-
dence, and lend our aid toward bringing about the period when it.
will be thought essential to becoming a minister of Christ, that he
should be thoroughly educated in theological lore. Whatever may
be thought of an prudite ministry, (and I acknowledge that every
one who is called of God to the performance of the high and holy
functions of this office, should give himself to study closely,) we
should never consent to give it primary importance in the eyes of
the people. If this time should ever arrive in our history, I fear
greatly that we may write uIchabod” upon the walls of our temples,
for then will the true glory have departed from us. The brethren
of other denominations are beginning to see in this particular
among us, the manifest pointings of Divine Providence. A min-
ister of the Presbyterian Church, among other things has said, “I
have no objections to a respectable ministry; it is highly desirable,
but then no one should condemn where Christ appears to adopt
the principle on which he acted when he chose his Apostles from
the lower ranks of social life; no one should condemn where God
„ has manifestly put the seal of approbation. I welcome these men
as brethren and as laborers in the vineyard, and I pray God that
he may send forth many more such laborers.” Let us never ac-
knowledge any one to be a proper person for the Christian Minis-
try who has not been and does not now show himself a genuinely
converted man by the depth of his religious experience, and bears
in his own person the infallible marks of his having been called of
God to that sacred office. A true and genuine “call” to that work,
may not, for one moment, be put in a secondary point of view.
Hitherto this has been looked upon as indispensable, and for the
future should be likewise so esteemed. Ho one should be admittedto the ranks of her ministry, (no matter what his literary qualifi-
cations,) on the power of his intellect alone. That man never can
preach Christ effectually, \yho is not in the enjoyment of the
abiding witness of his acceptance with God, through personal faith
in the Lord Jesus. I would add, that none should be sent forth
as such who are not in the positive enjoyment of the “perfect love”
of God, or groaning earnestly for it, and who give the most marked >
assurances of such longing to get nearer the Bedeemer of mankind.
Surely when the marks of a truly awakened mind, of a genuine
Christian experience, with the other evidences of a call to the
sacred offi<% are in possession of such a man, he will be the most
effectual in “winning souls19 for Christ. Thus far Methodism has
produced all the fruit of the early times of Christianity, and there-
fore she must be 4iviQe^7 appointed. For if God succeed the
preaching of the Gospel by her ministry, it cannot be doubted for
a moment that he has called, qualified, and sent them forth as his
own chosen ones, to do his own work, by bearing the tidings of
salvation to a lost and ruined world.	~
It would be deeply interesting at this day to know, from 1760 to
1866, what has been the proportion of local preachers to the itin-
erancy, and what relation they have held to itinerant ministers as
pioneers to the work of God, that has through the instrumentality
of the Methodist church been displayed. The first cannot possibly
be known, seeing that no records have been sufficiently kept
among us as to their numbers, more particularly in the earlier
part of the century. We can only speak of the present time. The
most that can be stated with accuracy, is, that the local preachers
in the church proper at this time, as before mentioned, number
8,205. We are left alone {,0 conjecture what has been thedr relative
increase with the increase of the itinerancy from the beginning. With
reference to the relation they have sustained to the church and
the ministry as pioneers in the work, it cannot be doubted that in
almost every instance, they have gone before the regular min-
istry, carrying the Gospel, where the others were not able, or
prepared to carry it; taking up appointments in the sparsely
settled parts of the country and maintaining them, until they
could be taken into the regular work by the traveling preachers.
Then extending their labors into other fields, until they in turn
have been prepared to be formed into circuits. They have been
found in thousands of instances the first to open their doors to re-
ceive the itinerants, and the first to form classes, and to found
churches. We do not pretend to say, neither do we believe, that
this has always been the case. . We speak only in reference to a
large majority of places in our circuit and other wrork. The local
preachers are at the same time always in unison with the Pastorate
of the church, employing their time and talents wherever they may
direct in the first instance, and seeking other fields of labor at such
times as they are not needed elsewhere. This is their special work.
To the scattered ones, who are not able to supply themselves they
go, both in places where they are and where they are not wanted,
governed by their own views of the necessities of the cases, that
may come under their observation. How many thousands have4
#
\
0,
A,
i-' ■.	33
t. '	:
been gathered into the fold of Christ, and how many thousands
have been converted through their instrumentality, died triumph-
antly in the faith, and are now safely housed in heaven, eternity
alone will unfold. We fervently pray that as it has been in the
past, so may it be in the future, and much more abundantly. It
.? will ever be the case that our department of the ministry must be
largely depended on to do this work in uncultivated ground, and
ground which in the nature of things cannot possibly be cultivated
in any other way. It is to be hoped that the local preachers of
our Church will never forget their special work is to be in the van
of the great spiritual army of the Lord of Hosts. And that they
may be qualified well for their work, they should nerve themselves
for the contest with the powers of darkness, by daily study, by
becoming more and more thoroughly acquainted with the scrip-
tures of divine truth, the oracles of God. There is no greater
error than setting lightly by the word of God; than a superficial
study of the Bible. The truths that are to be fully found in the
sacred volume, must be diligently sought, and he who reads it as
he does other works, finds them not. The knowledge of the divine
word and a taste for it, is the fruit and the reward of sincere and
persevering labor. If we study the word in Faith and look to it
for guidance, we shall most-certainly find in it treasures hidden,
of the existenpe of which we had no conception. It will support
us, as it did the Saviour when tempted in the desert; it will be to
us what it has been to the saints of the Old and New Testaments,
to David, to Daniel, to Paul; in a word, what it has been to every
saint of the Most High. Let us then study the oracles of God, and
not fail to bring to the duty, fervent and persevering prayer, that
we may see those hidden treasures, and through their instrumen-
tality be fully able to stand in our “lot.”
Local preachers should always be ready to serve their pastors
and the churches under their care; first, when they may be called
on. Wherever they hold their membership and are amenable, there
should they feel themselves bound first to labor, if their services be
needed; afterward it is their privilege and duty to go elsewhere,
seeing that their time be wholly occupied. They should seek out
places to labor and not wait for the places to call for them. They
should never be unemployed. Every Sabbath they should have
their time occupied fully by preaching once or twice. The more
frequently they engage in services of this kind, the more will they
become engrossed in the work and the greater delight will they
take in it. They should always be ready to preach and ready to
die. Indeed the pastors of the church, both in stations and cir-
cuits should, immediately on entering upon their respective fields
of labor, cause to be made out and printed, a plan of appointments
for the year, for themselves and all the local preachers under their
jurisdiction. In this way will every man know certainly what he is
expected to do, and should be held responsible for the performance
of it. Quartily Conference should make it specially their duty to
enquire into and give license to none who are not punctual and reg-
ular in their work. The regular pastor will also thus be able to
know the men on whom he can rely and who may be by him used
534
to the best advantage. Indeed it would be well if some such posi-
tive arrangement could be inserted in our book of discipline. It is
worthy of your mature thought, at the present convention, to per-
fect some plan of the kind, to be presented at the next General Con-
ference for their consideration.
As we are engaged to-day in addressing local preachers, and to v
them alone our observations should be made, we shall proceed to
notice a few topics for their especial advantage. Allow us, my
brethren to speak honestly and plainly to you—1st. As local preach-
ers you should not desire to labor where you may expect to meet
great crowds. If they should come, well and good. But this should
never be made an object with you in seeking your fields of labor.
Where there is no school-room or large place suitable to convene
the people, do as your fathers did and gloried in doing, find some
private dwelling in which to open your commission. Our* early
fathers we may say invariably pursued this course, for they labor-
ed at a time when but few places other than these could be had. In-
deed, they in this way were found carrying out the plan that prevail-
ed in Apostolic times. They preached the Gospel to individuals as
well as companies of people. Then there were no places to worship
the Father. In the city of Jerusalem every day and in private
dwellings they preached. Philip preached on his way to Samaria
to the eunuch by the way side in his chariot. At Troas we find
Paul occupying for this purpose, the upper chamber of the dwelling.
And at Eome he declared the Gospel of the grace of God for two
whole years in his private residence. The Lord of light and glory,
in his own person set them the example. He preached his Gospel
in private houses, in fishing boats thrust out from the land. The Apos-
tle felt this to be his duty, “warning every man,” (not many men
only,) “and teaching every man,”that he might be able to present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To the jailor at Phillipi, at the
hour of midnight, we find Paul and Silas offering him alone,Christ
Jesus the Lord. Wesley, our own Wesley, opened his work to a
single condemned prisoner.
Wherever, my brethren, one sinner is to be found, destitute of
the knowledge of Christ, exposed, and immediately exposed to death
and eternal ruin, to him you are called, and should delight to find
yourselves employed in bringing up before his mind, and duly im-
pressing him with the tidings of a Saviour’s birth, and a Saviour’s sal-
vation. For every man he lived and died, that every man might, if
he would, be presented faultless before the throne of his glory. In
any and every place, whether to the few or to the many, recollect
you are called to go and unfold the scriptures of divine truth. In
the second place, I would impress your minds with the absolute
necessity of great plainness of speech and simplicity of manner.
This should always, in every case characterize the local preachers
of our church; you should remember always that you are called of
God to this very purpose. You will simply disgrace yourselves, and
disgrace your calling, by selecting such topics for your discourse,
as will give you the opportunity of preaching yourselves and not
Christ Jesus the Lord. How will he appear at the judgment of the
great day, who has prostituted his calling by preaching for the35
amusement of the people on political or other kindred subjects ?
Would you like to appear in his stead ? Your services, my brethren,
should be of a different nature. Your ministry, should be of a
plainer and more pointed character. You are called to speak of
sin, of death, of ruin, of a Saviour, of eternal happiness through
Jesus’ most precious blood. Prom other subjects you should stand
aloof. On these awful topics you should descant with seriousness,
with plainness, with simplicity. Peeling your own hearts to be first
overwhelmed with them, and then you will be most likely to fin-
part to those who hear you, at least a portion of the same feelings
with which you yourselves are oppressed.
Adapt your services to the most illiterate of your hearers, and
you may be sure the learned will not pass away from them unin-
terested and unimproved. All mere ornaments of style and all
artifices of human eloquence so called, should be studiously avoided
as being entirely out of place. I would not for all this world can
afford, appear thus, if I could, before any congregation, small or
great. I desire always for myself to feel, and thus feeling, would
endeavor to impress you as the heralds of salvation, with the
thought that
“Truth when unadorned is adorned the most.”
In the vast majority of cases it is with you, as it has been with
the traveling preachers before you. Prom the common walks of
life, in the pursuit of your ordinary daily business, you have been
called. There you have had but few if any opportunities of study-
ing beauty of diction. Your labors have been abundantly blessed
of God to the awakening and conversion of thousands of sinners,
and your sermons been attended with the unction of the highest,
and always have been understood by the masses, and been made in
many instances, the upower of God unto their salvation ” Pursuing
the same tried path, it will be so in the future. In our own day,
as in the days of the Apostles, has this treasure been placed of Gpd
in “earthern vessels,” that the excellency thereof might be seen and
read of all men, as being of God and not of man. I beseech you,
therefore, my brethren, always go forth to your work in plainness
of speech and simplicity of manners. Go in the name alone of your
master, Christ Jesus. As you value your souls, and the souls of
those who hear you, never let the “trumpet” from your lips give
an uncertain sound. Let the Saviour be the sum and substance of
your discourses. Let the people hear from you, and in language
that cannot be .misunderstood or mistaken, that they are sinners ;
that Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost; that through
faith in his blood, his most precious blood, they can and must be fully
justified, which state of grace the divine being will always attest by his
own blessed spirit; that they must be entirely sanctified, in order that
they may be wholly acceptable in his sight, and fully prepared for eternal
glory. Let these truths and such as are kindred to them, be pro-
claimed warm from your hearts and lips every Sabbath, and you
may rely upon it, that you will soon see Apostolic (Jays rolled bfack
upon the church again. Of yourselves you may not expect to
measure up to what you feel is required of you, “for who is sufficient
for these things ?” But in answer to your fervent closet prayer, God36
will help you, God will make you “workmen that need not be ashamed,
dividing the word of truth” Often then be found in secret places
every day on your knees pleading with God, as a man face to face
pleadeth with a friend. He knows your utter helplessness if left to
yourselves, and your entire insufficiency for the might/work en-
trusted to you, and he, in answer to your prayer, will in his own
way qualify you for this work. The walls of the study of the now
sainted Fletcher, bore their testimony to the frequency and fer-
van^y of his petitions to God. The place opposite where he kneeled
was darkened with his breath, so repeatedly was he there engaged
in prayer. Happy will it be for us, and happy for those to whom
we minister in holy things, if the walls of our studies bear their
testimony to our fidelity in the performance of this duty. Bishop
George would arise from his bed, wrap his cloak around him, and
spend hours on his knees before God. John Nelson, we are told,
used to rise at midnight every night for the purpose of pouring out
his heart to God. The deeply pious and gifted Thomas Walsh was
accustomed always to go from his knees to the pulpit, and then
from the pulpit to his knees again, asking the blessing of God on
his efforts. William Brumwell,that man of fervid holiness of heart
and life, in writing to Mr. Crane, said: “Forgive me when I say to
you, my life is now prayer. I feel the need of this continually,
and can only live in this duty.” Often in the stilly silence of the
night, when all nature was wrapped in sleep, might he be heard
wrestling with God. He was overheard by the servant of the
family in which he was, the night previous to the morning when
he was so suddenly removed from earth to heaven, engaged in such
exercises for a deeper baptism of the Holy Spirit. How signally
did God own each of these men ! How remarkably was their min-
istry acknowledged of Him ! How gloriously did he second thei/
efforts to preach Christ! Let us go and do likewise, if we would
see similar results follow our ministrations.
After all, what is earthly wisdom when put in competition with
the wisdom that comes down from above, but painted folly ? what
though you could, like Solomon, discourse on all manner of things
from the “cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that
springeth out of the wall,” &c., and are deficient in the knowledge
of the “root of Jessewhat though you may haven correct knowl-
edge of the names, locations and distances of the stars, yet are
practically wanting in information in reference to the Star of Ju-
dah, and do not apply yourselves to know most fully the intimate,
practical relation there is between the soul and the atonement of
Christ? You would fall far below the Bible standard of true min-
isters of Christ, and in the end prove to be miserable men, wretched
fools. All other knowledge without this will be of no avail to you.
My brethren, whatever may be the wisdom you attain touching
other subjects, take care that at the same time, you are more inti-
mately acquainted with the deep things of Christian experience.
Never neglect this for the attainment of any knowledge whatever—
truth, moral and religious, of indubitable certainty and import
ance, should be the delight of your minds constantly; what more
available to yourselves and others than this ?3*
3d. I would most earnestly impress you with the importance of
entering with great zest, upon all the benevolent operations of the
church—the Sabbath School, Tract, Bible, Missionary, Temperance,
and other kindred associations. Let as much of your countenance
be given to these works as possible. They all have anMmportant
bearing on the future destinies of the church. They have it now,
and will have much more in the century to come. The rapid
evangelization of the world depends in no small degree upon the
manner in which these causes are sustained. Indeed by the suc-
cess of one alone—the missionary cause—may be very accurately
measured the vital prosperity of the church. In these times, when
God is so manifestly opening the door to missions among the
heathen, the local ministry should come up to the help of the Lord
against the mighty. By their contributions, little or much, as
God may give ability, and by their personal labors in the blessed
work, they should always be found on the side of the church,
forwarding her interests. Nothing but the Gospel will elevate the
world from the moral degradation in which it is found. It becomes
therefore the positive duty of every Christian minister to throw
all the weight of his influence, be it small or great, into the cause
of missions. By argument clear and distinct, by warm and affec-
tionate appeals to the people, should all your efforts to promote
the cause be characterized. , It is a subject that should occupy
your thoughts almost continually. For this subject should you
during this centenary year particularly plead most earnestly in
prayer with God. It is his blessed will to send the light of truth
everywhere, to all nations under Heaven. Then, my brethren,
if you would give the cause a most glorious impetus by your efforts
and contributions, let sound practical wisdom, let the morality of
the Bible, let uncompromising fidelity in your labors, and express-
ive energy be yours. Neither should you for one moment, suffer
your attention to be diverted from your particular work by any of
the attractions of scholarship or philosophy or science in general.
What may be said of the missionary cause, may be truly said of
all the benevolent causes connected with the church. Virgil, that
prince of the Latin poets, was once asked by a friend, why be
so diligently studied in the plan of his poem, to form good and
proper characters. His reply was; “In oeternumpingo” (“Ipaint
for eternity.” Memorable answer was that for a heathen; worthy
to be embalmed in the warmest affections of a Christian heart.
If a man who never had correct views of the Deity, and of that
eternity to which he was hastening; if all before him in reference
to that world was shrouded in deep and starless gloom profound;
if he could have been actuated by such a principle, what should we
be, who live in the glorious effulgence of the blessed Gospel of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? What should we be and what
should we do for those causes, which bear upon man’s vital being?
As local preachers we cannot, we dare not withhold our quantum
of steady strenuous effort to promote them. What more impres-
sive consideration could we offer ourselves constantly than this ?
“In ceternum vivo,” (“I live for eternity.”) Then, my brethren, I say
to you now, in the presence of the Judge of all men, I say to each38
one of you—live and labor for eternity. Ancient Eome in her
day, the proud mistress of the world, had her palaces, her temples,
her courts of jurisprudence, her halls of literature, her grand thea-
tres and splendid places of amusement. Turn to the other side and
enquire for her institutions for the relief of the distressed. What
their number,, their location, their object? Alas! alas! Echo answers,
where are they? Nowhere are they to be found, for she had none.
It remained for our most holy Christianity to originate all such.
To the increase of pure Christian fraternal love, and compassion for
the distressed, are we indebted for their establishment and expan-
sion founded in the precious blood of Christ and the word of God.
There and there only is to be found sympathy with suffering,
and kindness for the poor. This word teaches us that they are
among the first fruits of the duties of religion. Then as Christians
and as Christian Ministers we should always be engaged most
earnestly in promoting all causes that have for their special object
the amelioration of the condition of the race, by so much the more
as Christianity is above heathenism, and Heaven above hell.
4th. Lives of deep and agonizing prayer with God for a qualifi-
cation for your work and for the success of your labors, will pre-
pare you more fully for those labors, by bringing you into the
enjoyment of real personal holiness. As a general rule, no man
can be fitted to lead his hearers into a state of grace any higher
than he enjoys himself. He will rarely seek to enlighten them On
a subject that he knows not experimentally. Men will never be
induced to seek a state of rest from inbred corruption by any other
means than ‘‘ line upon line, and precept upon precept,” coming
from a heart full of that love. When the soul is lost and swallowed
up in the perfect love of God, all sin is destroyed, and pure love to
God and our fellow man will likewise fill the man, and all his min-
istrations will necessarily bear its impress. I cannot therefore
suffer this opportunity to pass, on this day set apart solemnly for
the special purpose of thanking God for what he has done for us
and the world, and renewing our covenants with him and each
other for the future, without using as far as possible the gifts God
has bestowed upon me, in endeavoring to lead you into this grace;
this land of complete rest in God; this land of Beulah, “where the
sun shines both night and day.” When you look my brethren at
the worth of immortal souls, and then at the fearful responsibility
that rests upon you, divinely appointed, to lead them into the en-
joyment of this higher walk in Christian experience, how can you,
how can any of you, live a single day destitute of the “fullness of
salvation”—a fullness of salvation that is designed of Heaven to
prepare you to win them thus effectually for the Saviour, and to
prove yourselves to be “ workmen that need not be ashamed ”
Christ Jesus the Lord, of whom it is written “ his blood cleanseth
from all unrighteousness” calls you positively to the enjoyment of
this close and intimate communion, this alliance with himself. He
is to be esteemed by every one of ypu as the great exemplar, the
model of that holiness to which you must be brought, as true min-
isters of the new and everlasting covenant. In his humanity we
speak of him while we say, as he was holy, so must you be holy in39
heart and life, in your present state of being. By his merit alone,
may you expect to be what he commands you to be, and.through
his all-prevailing advocacy alone will the Holy Spirit come down
upon you, in all his fullness and the plentitude of his power, and
apply that precious blood in the cleansing of you from all un-
righteousness. For of him it is again said,” “ that he might sanctify
the people with his own blood, he suffered without the gate.” Then
without the gate he died that you might be sanctified. Nothing
whatever will excuse one of you from the enjoyment of it. This
maybe clearly established from the relation you sustain to the
people on the one hand, and to the Divine Being on the other.
His word states plainly and emphatically that “ without holiness no
man shall see the Lord” Two objects of prayer, fervent and faith-
ful prayer, I would urge upon you at this special juncture of time.
1st. That those among you who cannot from personal experience
bear testimony to the great truth thatblood of Jesus Christ his
son, cleanses you from all sin,” spend this day in prayer, earnestly
striving to enter in this great salvation. Then will the recollection
of it be a hallowed epoch in your history, and be dwelt upon with
peculiar delight. For ministers above and before all men, should,
be holy. They are way-marks to the kingdom of heaven, and
should take special care neper to point in a different direction.
2nd. I would also urge upon those of you Who do enjoy this state of
grace in all its power and fullness, here,—to-day—now dedicate your-
selves to God afresh, and from this day with renewed ardor, serve
him with perfect hearts and willing minds. Then having caught
afresh the sacred impulse of the holy fire, you will go forth to pro-
claim the doctrine of entire redemption in the blood of Christ, with
a power and success that	*	'
“No thought can reach
No tongue declare.”
Let us all spend this day, then, with renewed covenants before the
Lord our maker. My beloved brethren, allow me to be jealous
for you. Allow me to say to you, the local ministry of the church,
you must be holy, you must rise to a higher personal enjoyment of
God. Then will you realize in the fullest extent the truth of God,
and go through the length and breadth of this land of ours, recom-
missioned afresh as flaming brands from the eternal world to
preach the unsearchable riches of Christ Then will you speak the
word of God, and then will those who wait on your ministry hear
the word of God from your lips, as they have never heard it before,
and be gathered by hundreds and thousands into his fold. If the
8,205 local preachers who are now proclaiming the truth every
Sabbath, (and on other days,) thus preached a full and free salva-
tion, a salvation of the fullness of which they themselves were the
living witnesses, the human mind would fail utterly to compre-
hend the greatness of that company of believers that would imme-
diately be brought, and continued to be brought, into the enjoy-
ment of Hike precious faith” with them. Let us then at once resolve,
that we will never stand in the way, or hinder in the least, all such
from entering into their holy privileges. On the contrary, let us
at once throw all our souls on the side of the Lord, while we shall40
be employed in gathering oar fellow men into the fold of Christ.
We shall be held under God largely responsible for what will be the
future of the Methodist Episcopal Church in our beloved country.
Shall she spread herself in the coming century over this whole con-
tinent, “terrible as an army with banners,” or as the “harbinger of
peace” to millions yet unborn ? shall she? That this may be her
case, and the case of all in your country, I would solemnly warn
you my brethren against letting yourselves be drawn aside by any
man, or any subject, from your legitimate work of saving souls.
Take care that you are not drawn into the strife of parties and
thus in a moment be shorn of your strength. Souls! Souls are in
danger of perishing. Snatch them as brands from the very verge of
Hell, and
“Quench them in a Saviours blood.”
Mr. Charles Wesley was to our Zion what David was to the
Jewish Church of old, their “ sweet singer.” Just before expiring
in the arms of his Kedeemer, he asked his wife to write what he
would dictate to her. It proved to be the last stanzas that ever
fell from his lips.
“ In age and feebleness extreme,
Who snail a sinful world redeem ?
Jesus my only hope thou art,
Strength of my failing flesh and heart;
O! dbuld I catch a smile from thee
And drop into Eternity I”
If you, my brethren, would close up your earthly labors as did
he, live and preach Jesus to the world as a full redeemer. Then
calmly and peacefully as this shall you meet your end. Live but
the life of the righteous and your eternity shall be like his.
5th. We should remember that to be local preachers in the truest
sense, is not to be idlers by the way. After the difficulties and
troubles of the week, we are glad to go forth to labor in the culti-
vation of Immanuel’s lands. All alike have the same God to look
to for success, and all alike shall succeed. It matters not what
difference may exist in our mental acumen, if we are but faithful
in the great work of the ministry to which we have been called
by God and his church, we shall succeed accordingly. “ The bat-
tle is not to the strong alone nor the race to the swift.” Bemember
what kind of instruments in the general have been used by God
to perpetuate the true knowledge of himself. “ Not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty ; and base things of the world and
things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are
not to bring to naught things which are ; that no flesh should glory in
his presence.” We see clearly then that it is not unfrequently the
case that those of lesser abilities succeed, and that, too, beyond
those who outstrip thenf in the race for preferment. In this par-
ticular the brother who may think himself behind his brethren in
point of qualifications for this work, has no valid reason for being
discouraged, and becoming a mere drone all through life. You
have your share of the responsibility to meet, and which must be
met by yourselves, seeing no man can do your work. Many years
since when a mere lad, at a Camp Meeting held in Baltimore county,
my mind was deeply effected by a sentence that fell from the lips
of an agqd and infirm minister. He had consented to preach that41
morning to the vast assembly then present, including some fifty
ministers of Christ. He arose from his seat, led by one who loved
him, forward to the desk, for so aged was he that vision had en-
tirely failed him. Before he announced his text, he introduced
himself in the following short and expressive sentence : “ Brethren,
you may wonder why it is that I, an old, blind and decrepit m&n,
should have consented this morning to address you while so many
vigorous young men who could do it far better than myself, are
seated around as hearers. All I have to say, the only apology I
make is, “no man can do my work '- That short, laconic sentence
thus dropped from the tremulous lips of the venerable Toy, has
never escaped my mind. May it never pass from yours. No man
can do my work. Yes, truly, no man can do your work. Thus my
beloved brethren we have no time to waste in sloth and idleness
by the way, therefore let us be up and at it constantly with re-
newed diligence. The Judge is at the door.
If any of you feel under such pressing circumstances, that you
can be mere drones, you should retire from the work instantly and
altogether. At this time I desire greatly to say something that
may result in good to the feeblest among you. What can I say
better than “ Work” (Work, Work,) “ while it is day, the night
cometh when no man can work.” By resolutely determining to
work, toil, labor, to the best of your ability in the Master’s vine-
yard, you will become not only useful but great men. By toil
alone, tempered by Christian zeal, you may expect great results.
“Ail nature lives by toil
Beast, bird, air, fire, the Heaven’s, and rolling world;
All live by action, nothing lies at rest,
But Death and Ruin;
What simple nature yields, (and nature does her part,)
Are only rude materials, cumbrous as the thorny ground,
’Tis’ toil, that makes them breath.”
It is a fixed and unalterable law, that men are truly great, not
by nature or accident, but by toil. Instances almost innumerable
from the different walks of life, might be adduced to show the bene-
ficial effects of toil. Men have resolved to be great, applied them-
selves assiduously to reach the goal, and have succeeded. Some of
the brightest stars of the firmament of knowledge, in all the learned
professions, as well as in all the mechanical pursuits of life, have
risen from the most unpromising states and from the very paths of
poverty, and have terminated their lives at the highest pinnacle of
fame. See the early history of our own Clark. In confirmation of
this too, you have an instance in the case of that good man *Lord
Edon, one of the brightest lights of England. His history affords
one of the most remarkable instances on record, of a man raising
himself from the very depths of obscurity, to the highest point of
political life. The family name of this celebrated man was John
Scott. He was of very low extraction, and very low parentage.
His father was a coat-fitter. By dint of application, John succeed-
ed in obtaining admission to college where he maintained himself
by manuel labor, and from college finally reached the bar. Whilst
very poor he married Miss Sarteos against the wishes of her
wealthy parents, who objected to Scott became of his circumstances,
and the lowness of his birth. His first step towards the elevation he
* Dr. Dodd.42
finally attained, was made by his undertaking the management of
an election case in the House of Commons, which he engaged in at
midnight, and was fully ready to prosecute by morning. At this
very time his circumstances were so poor, and his prospects so in-
auspicious, that he was only dissuaded from quitting London in
utter despair by the remonstrance of his friends. The manage-
ment of this case was the dawning of a better day upon him. ITis
business increased, and his influence and reputation with it. In
1778, at the age of thirty-seven he was knighted, and in 1794 was
made Attorney General. In 1799 he was created Baron Eldon, and
was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. At which
time the family and friends of his wife made overtures to him
which he declined, saying that “ Lord Eldon” could not consent to
recognize those who had scorned poor “John Scott.” Such are
the mutations of men and things that he subsequently lived to affix
his official seal, as Lord Chancellor, to the commission of bank-
ruptcy for the father of his wife. In 1801 he was made keeper of
the seals, and resigned them on a change of ministers in 1806. He
resumed them in 1807 and continued to occupy the wool-sack until
1827, when ori the dissolution of Lord Liverpool’s administration
he retired to private life, and died in 1838 in the eighty-seventh
year of his age, full of honors.
If such was the history of Lord Eldon, what may be said of the
case of every man in any of the walks of life ? If laborious toil
ended thus in his case, why not in mine or yours f It may be said,
most emphatically, said of that man called to the ministry, of the
word, after he has received unequivocally the signet of the Divine
approval, and has by him been exalted to a work, above all works
the highest and noblest, lie must succeed, if he only apply himself
to his calling in humble dependence on his God. Labor and toil
is the price for which excellence in his vocation is to be attained.
Man is born to toil—fashioned to labor, and by it is he improved
in everything he undertakes. This, too, is more immediately true
of a minister of Christ.
*It is recorded of Dr. Paley, (one of the brightest ornaments that
ever adorned the Christian Church, a most acute and powerful
reasoner, and one of the ablest defenders of Christianity that ever
lived.) that while a student at college he was given to idleness,
and what almost invariably follows, to dissipation. Early one
morning a rich and dissipated fellow-student entered his room and
thus accosted him: “Paley, I have been thinking what a fool you
are. 1 have the means to be dissipated and can afford to be idle.
You are poor and cannot afford it. I should make nothing if I
were to apply myself. You are capable of attaining great emi-
nence. Impressed with these reflections about you, I have been
kept awake all night, and have come thus early in the morning to
warn you to stop at once and resolve to do better.”
Paley was thunderstruck at the plainness'and Honesty of his
adviser. After a few moments reflection, he made him a reply in
the following laconic sentence—“I will try.” From this resolu-
tion, deliberately though suddenly formed, he never wavered for a
moment. The immediate result of this singular admonition was
*Dr. Dodd.43
his reformation, and as the final result he became by indefatigable
labor one of the guiding lights of his own and all subsequent ages.
The reprover of Paley has long since passed from earth away and
his name been forgotten. But that of Paley will live in the his-
tory of the world
“Till every fire of every star shall languish and expire.”
Bemember then, never forget it, ‘ ‘I will try” was never vanquished.
The more you feel your own littleness, the more fully place the
object to be reached before you, and resolve, “I will try” If
persisted in you must inevitably reach the desired point. You may
never reach eminence in the way Dr. Paley reached it, but you
may all do as did the venerable John Knox. On one occasion in
the vehement outbreakings of his soul, he cried oiit, “Lord give me
Scotland or 1 die” From the inner depths of your hearts, hunger
and thirst after the salvation of your fellow man. Toil to be the
instruments in the hands of God of their salvation. Often cry out
before the Lord, “Give me souls or I die,” and great success will be
the consequence. What if you succeed in saving but one soul ? To
be instrumental in saving one if no more, in the great day of assize,
when you come to give an account of your stewardship, will be of
more joy to you than to have been the greatest of men. Go forth
therefore to your work. N ever bd discouraged, for when you least ex-
pect it God may own a single expression in giving rise to thoughts
that may terminate in the salvation of an immortal being. Always
remember “2 will try” was never defeated. Thomas Ward, known
as Baron Ward, rose from the most obscure places of life, and by
dint of persevering application, reachedthe pinnacle of influence and
wealth. It may he attributed to the effect of a Bible received as a
reward of merit, from the humble S. S. of Howden, Yorkshire
parish, to which he was attached. He says of himself, “Itis God’s
work alone. Think of a boy torn from school in the ninth year of his
age, placed in livery stables without education ; then see him placed
amid the affairs of Europe, concluding treaties! Must this not be
the work of God! Most certainly it is, and may I be always
thankful to him, and prove as worthy as we earthly beings can be
for his bountiful kindness.” With such a spirit as this, we wonder
not at the steady mind by which he was kept calm amid wavering
resolutions*
The Bible and its influence was fully and fairly acknowledged
many years since by an eminent British Lord, (Lord Morpeth.)
“Truth may have, in a great number of instances, called for mar-
tyrdom ; for intolerance, never. She may pass now and again
through the flames, but woe to her if she enkindle them. Kindle
them she never can. What the Bible has to do with what it
spreads universally is the ‘Whole counsel of God.’ Till it be proved
that this is not the proper food for the soul, in whatever nation the
man is, and of whatever color he may be, be it my sole care to
spread its simple saving truths abroad.” My brethren, may it be
yours also. With the high estimate in which we hold the Scrip-
tures of Divine Truth, and our care for the immortal souls of men,
may it be said of us as our founder said of himself, uJiomo unius
libri,” (“a man of one book,”) This will be pre-eminently proper,44
when we fully consider this life has its final hour, and that hour is
rapidly approaching; that then there will be an end to everything,
small and great; that this system of being has its last day, the
hour at which is closed forever our probationary existence, when
man can no longer, by repentance, secure the approbation of his
God. Let us, then, enter upon and fill up, as far as may be our
lot, the present century of Methodism, as we will wish we had
when we come to the solemn termination of our earthly career.
O my brethren, think of nothing besides the salvation of souls, and
how you may best secure it to those with whom you may come in
contact. Let not the temptation to preach elaborately and ex-
haustively upon any subject lead you astray. Let not the pros-
pect of place, of power, of wealth, seduce you from the humble
path of Methodist preachers. What will the accumulated earn-
ings of months and years avail you when, at last, Death comes to
look you in the face, and you then think of your Redeemer’s cause
languishing in your hands, and hear him say to you, “Thou slothful
servantf out of thine own mouth will 1 condemn thee.” Let us, more than
ever, study to make our discourses plain and pointed, founded
wholly upon the word of God. If we are faithful to our high call-
ing the very contrary shall be realized by each one of us, and we
shall hear him say—
‘‘Well and faithfully done,
Enter into my joy
And sit down on my throne.”
The distant sound of the waters of life, animated afresh the heart
of David, and he sang, “There is a river, the streams whereof shall
make glad the city of God.” (Psalms xlvi.) John in vision stood
upon the shore of that river, lost in wonder and astonishment, as
be beheld the “pure river of the water of life, clear as chrystal, pro-
ceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, “(Rev. xxii. i.)
and we, my brethren, weary and faint beneath the burden and heat
of the day, may lift up our eyes from the dusty foot-prints of life’s
highway, and by faith behold the “City of our God,” approaching
nearer and nearear unto it as did the ancient worthies, with its gates
of pearl, its golden streets, its flowing river, its fruitful and shadowy
trees; all images of the glory and beauty which very shortly will
be revealed unto us. When we have entered our rest, we shall re-
alize that all the beauty and glory we beheld by faith, were not
realities, but obscure figures of that world of light and glory. .Now
at best they but faintly represent the great blessings Jehovah has
in store reserved for his faithful ones. Let us gaze upward and look
onward. Presently it will burst upon our enraptured vision, and
we shall be safe at home. When we have passed to that heavenly
rest, and when those who may be our successors are assembled to
celebrate the bicentenary of Methodism—an hundred years hence—
what will be her triumph? Will it be found then that the Lord
has preserved us as a people, pure in doctrines, pure in discipline,
pure in heart ? Will our ministry, traveling and local, be pure
teaching, as the commandments of heaven, not the speculation of
men, but what is solely written in the word of God? I trust that
then we shall be found pure indeed, having for the sake of worldly
power, made^no compromise with the world, the flesh, and the Devil.45
Popularity and worldly power will be found purchased at too
great a price if for it we shall have degenerated in our purity and
simplicity. I venture no prediction on this question, for God alone
can tell what will be the issue. With him there is no variableness,
and if we continue to serve him with a perfect heart, he will never
forsake us. If on the contrary, we forsake him, we have in his
conduct towards his ancient and chosen people, the Jews, the fac-
simile of what will be his conduct towards us, viz: He will certain-
ly cast us off. For “them that honor me I will honor, and they that
despise me shall be lightly esteemed. (1st Samuel 11—30.)
At the present the glory has not departed from us; neither have
we tarnished in the least the fair escutcheon received from our
fathers. If we walk by the same rule and mind the same things,
prosperity will inevitably attend us. Let us then hold fast our
doctrines, let us live in the practice of the same. Let our lives be
practical comments upon the Gospel of Christ our Saviour, then
will Methodism go forth in her mission of evangelising the world,
ufair as the moon, clear as the sun ” As Local Preachers, it is not
our place to mend her in her discipline or in other respects. Let
us take her as we find her, press all the energry of which we are
capable in her service, at all times, and we may confidently antici-
pate for the years to come a most glorious harvest, for the Lord
has been with us, and he will be with us always. His presence
now in our midst is the harbinger of still greater success. We
then as Local Preachers will give ourselves afresh to our high call-
ing, the universal spread throughout the land of pure, unadulterated
Christianity, and when called home to our reward on high, we
will bequeath it untarnished to our children, and to our children’s
children. We then forever saved, and they left to tread on earth
the pathway to the same glory enjoyed by us, will join in one an-
them of praise, ilunto him that loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests, unto God and
his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.jLKFEasriDrx:.
ROBERT STRAWBRIDGE.
BY REV. GEO. C. M. ROBERTS, M. D.
A few days since a friend, (Mr. David Creamer,) put into my
hands a book entitled “Ireland, and the Centenary of American
Methodism,” by the Rev. William Crook, Dublin, 1866. Mr. Crook
has done himself great credit in the preparation of this book. He
deserves, and doubtless will have, the thanks of the Methodists of
this country (as well as Ireland) for it. It is a noble tribute to
the memory of those from Ireland who were the instruments in
the hands of Divine Providence in establishing upon these shores
that system of Christianity which arose from a mere handful of
people, who were its first originators, until within this eenturj' it
has multiplied to millions. What number it may reach in the
coming century, if we are faithful to our trust, God alone can tell!
In the chapter devoted to Robert Strawbridge, Mr. Crook has not
been so happy in giving to the public recollections of this great
and good man. This we say in no spirit of complaint, for we are
given fully to understand that Mr. C. had used all the information
it was possible to obtain in Ireland. He visited the place of Straw-
bridge’s birth andlboyhood, as well as other localities, and sought
for information in reference to him, but could find none. All of
his family had passed away from earth. He says, “he probably,
with his young wife, came to America in 1766.” Though he ascer-
tained much about his family, he states that “I found no one in
Drumsna who had ever heard of Robert.” Mr. C. does not speak
of these figures “dogmatically,” but merely as the nearest approach
“he could make to the true date.” He further states, “I have read
all the documents by Dr. Roberts and Dr. Hamilton, &c., and have
seen no proof, as yet, that Strawbridge left Ireland before 1766.”
Not long after his arrival he constructed the famous “log meeting-
house,” in which primitive “chapel” Strawbridge ministered the
word of life Sabbath after Sabbath for many years, “Itinerating,
during the week, through Eastern Maryland, Delaware, Pennsyl-
vania, and Virginia.” After speaking of what Dr. Hamilton says
of David Evans embracing the Methodist religion under Mr. Straw-
bridge, about 1764, he concludes, “this is about the entire amount
of evidence, in proof of the Maryland case, and Robert Straw-
bridge, as compared with New York, and Philip Embury,” and, in
the absence of all documentary testimony, “it is impossible to
prove that Strawbridge left Ireland before 1766,”47
Judging from these extracts, we think Mr. Crook had not seen
all that we have written to establish the fact of Strawbridge com-
ing to America as early as 1760, or he would not have said that
there were no “documentary” proofs of it. We have the documents
to prove that fact in the collection of the A. M. Historical Society
of the Baltimore Conference.
1st. We have the letter (to Mr, Wm. Fort of Ellicott’s Mills,
Maryland, a very respectable local preacher) of ]\Iichael Laird,
written when he was 73 years old, dated Philadelphia, Southwark,
49 George St., (in which among other things, giving information
of himself and family before and after emigrating from Ireland to
to this country) he fully and explicitly states the fact of Mr. Straw-
bridge coming to America in 1760, and immediately opening his
house on Sams Creek, Maryland, as a preaching place. He says
this was talked of in his father’s family, and it does not seem for
a moment to have been controverted. I will give the extract in his
very words : “Mr. Bobert Strawbridge emigrated in the year 1760
—heard he settled in Maryland, and commenced soon after his arri-
val, to hold meetings in his own house, which resulted in the
conversion of many. We were always of the opinion that Mr.
Strawbridge was the first Methodist who preached in America,
sometime before there was any preaching by the Methodists in
Hew York.” In a H. B. to this letter, Mr. Laird says, “I have
not heard anything more about Mr. B. Strawbridge: when he was
born, or what his family history; or when he landed; or anything
respecting his settlement, except, that he settled in Marjdand, and
commenced immediately to hold meetings in his own house which
were attended with much good. I heard that he was the first who
preached as a Methodist in America. From all these accounts we
heard Maryland was the first place to be privileged with Methodist
preaching in America.”
We think this is “documentary” proof sufficient to settle this
mooted question. Mr. Laird was a Methodist himself and was
fifty years of age before coming to this country. He heard this
thing in Ireland, in his father’s family, who were intimate with
Strawbridge and all his family. He, himself, was familiar in Ire-
land with Mr. Strawbridge’s family. He knew his brother Leonard
intimately, wTho taught a school, and who had frequently slept at
his father’s house, and also at his own. He states other things of
deep interest about Leonard, and his determination to emigrate to
America likewise, which it is not necessary that we should tran-
scribe ; as well as about his own father and family.
2nd, We have another letter to Mr. Fort, from the Bev. F. H.
Bichey, who at the time lived on Sams Creek, dated August 25th,
1843. Among other things, Mr. Bichey says, “Mr. E. Maynard
states, that his father, Henry Maynard, was baptized by B. Straw-
bridge in the sixth or seventh year of his age. Strawbridge was
then preaching regularly (and consequently he must have been
preaching for some time before-G. C. M. B.) at John Maynard’s,
brother of Henry Maynard, and uncle to Ephraim Maynard, my
informant. His father took Henry Maynard to one of these ap-
pointments, (Strawbridge must then have had others,—G. C M. B.)48
and Strawbridge baptized him at his brother’s spring. Henry May-
nard died in 1837, and was 81 years old when he died, which would
fix the baptism of Henry Maynard as far back as 1763 at least.
(If he was six years old at the time, as it was probable, it would fix
it in 1762.—Gr. C. M. JR.) John Maynard, whose house was a
preaching place at this time, was then a Methodist, which makes
it probable that the labors of Strawbridge commenced somewhere
about the year 1760. Bro. Evans, whose house we visited, states
that he has documents in his hands, written by his father, fixing
the conversion of his grand father, in the year 1764, his conviction
having been produced by a conversation with Mr. Strawbridge
while plowing his corn.”
Here is other “documentary” proof of the fact: Mr. Richey
was the preacher on the circuit where Strawbridge first settled and
labored. He was familiar with Mr. E. Maynard, and with Mr.
Evans and their families; frequently must have had intercourse
with them, and knew the statements made by him were true. At
the time made they were not denied by them, although they were
made by him, and known to them at the time.
Here then, is “ documentary ” proof sufficient to establish the
point in hand.
3rd. I have now also before me a letter of Samuel Evans, doubtless the one
referred to by Mr. Richey, which goes to corroborate the fact of Strawbridge’s
early preaching in Maryland, and likewise substantiates the statement made by
Rev. Dr. Hamilton, which Mr. Crook seems to think should not be received.
In this letter, he says among other things, “John Evans was born 30th Novem-
ber, 1734, about five miles from the city of Baltimore. When about 14 years of
age, (that is about 1748—G. C. M. R.) he moved to the western part of Balti-
more county, near the neighborhood of Pipe and Sams Creek, where he resided
until his death, about the year 1763 or ’64. The Rev. Strawbridge came into
the neighborhood with his family, and lived on a farm now occupied by Mr.
Jabob Keim. While he lived in the neighborhood, the friends cultivated some
of the land he had in possession, free of charge, while he was traveling and
preaching. John Evans wras one who ploughed some for him, and had some
conversation with Mr. Strawbridge on the subject of religion, and through said
conversation, was brought to see and feel the need of salvation, which he sought
and found in a short time.—S. Evans.” (At that time preaching was held at Mr.
Todds. Mr. John Evans opened his house, and preaching was continued there
regularly, and he was appointed the leader.—G. C. M. R.)
“N. B.—What I have written I have frequently heard my grandfather John
Evans, and my father, D. Evans, relate, and much more if I could recollect
it.—S. Evans.”
Here also, is documentary evidence which cannot he disapproved.
4th. The Historical society is in possession of other “documents ” showing
this point conclusively. It is known, that during his life time, the late Mr.
Thomas Ruckle was engaged in obtaining notes, preparatory to a history of the
Rise of Methodism in America, which he did not live to complete. The notes
and fragments of history which he obtained, and which are in a confused mass,
unfitted entirely for publication, are in now in my hands. Mr. Ruckle was a
brother of the Ruckles that came over with Embury, and of those who emigrated
subsequently. He settled, (asalso did Mr. Paul Ruckle, another brother,) in
Baltimore. He wras very familiar with all those who came over with Mr. Em-
bury. He frequently visited them at New York, and from their own lips, had
corroborated the truth of the notes thus made, and was repeatedly urged by them
to complete his account, and have it published. Mr. Ruckle’s death prevented
the accomplishment of this desirable end. I presume that the facts now generally
received, have all been obtained by the several writers who have written on the
subject, and heretofore published by me. He states that Mr. Embury came
over, and landed in. New York, in August, 1760; the names of those families that
accompanied him; th^t he preached from the aide of the Teasel before she left49
Ireland; his brother heard the sermon; the names of those who came over in a
few years after; Mrs. Heck burning the cards, and the strong appeal to Mr. Em'
bury to preach to his own people; her going out and getting a congregation for
him at his own house; where he iived at the time; of his forming the class,
&c., &c. He also unequivocally states that Mr. Strawbridge came over in 1760.
and settled on Sams Creek, Maryland.
Mr. Ruckle was a Methodist, and got. the facts from those early Palatines
themselves; there was not the slightest reason why he should falsify the dates,
or alter in the least any of the circumstances. Those notes are all written
briefly as we might expect notes to be, and yet plainly and fully. If Mr. Ruckle
is to be believed in what he states about Mr. Embury, why not also in what
he states about Mr. Strawbridge ? If what Mr. Ruckle says is fully credited,
and asserted by those who have subsequently written on the subject, is not what
he states about Robert Strawbridge fully worthy of their acceptance? We
think it is. We see not the shadow of a reason, why for a moment it should
be rejected, particularly when it is fully established by the “ documents” which
we have adduced. These writers (whose letters we have quoted) were all per^
sonally unknown to him ; he had never seen or known of what they had written,
and did not at the time of his death. These -writers had never seen or heard of
what Mr. Ruckle had written on the subject, yet they perfectly agree in stating
positively that Robert Strawbridge came over to this country in 1760. Here
, then is testimony of the most unexceptionable character. Mr. Laird states it as
having been a subject of common conversation in his father’s family, before he emi-
grated to America from Ireland. They were familiar with the family of Mr. Straw-
bridge, and knew the facts. Mr. Ruckle in this country received the facts from
another and different source altogether. From the early-Palatines themselves,
who again and again urged him to hurry his work to completion, and give it to
the public. Then, until other testimony is found as creditable as that he has givenf
. we are bound to receive his. We humbly conceive, after looking over the
whole ground, that such testimony is not to be found either in Ireland or
America,
5th. A few words more and I have done. With reference to the “ log chapel,”
which was built by Mr. Strawbridge, and to which Mr. Crook also alludes in
his work, I will say, that there is not the shadow of a doubt on my mind that
it was built as early as 1764, probably in 1763. This letter which already has
reached such a length, (that I fear you will not publish it in the whole) pre-
vents my entering into this part of the subject as fully as I desire. It is con-
tained somewhat more at large in my “ Centenary and Pictorial Album,” and
to this work I refer your readers. I will also do myself the pleasure of send-
ing a complimentary copy of this book to Mr. Crook, which I trust he will
duly receive, that he also may see what has been written. Nothing that I have
written at this time, or heretofore, has been with any other purpose than to sub-
stantiate what I fully believe to be true. If it can by Mr. Crook, or any other
person, be proven that I am incorrect, no one will more cheerfully acknowledge
his error than myself. If, by the documents I have added, or any of which I have
known no knowledge, it can be fully shown that I have either misinterpreted, or
said what cannot be proven by them, I will fully yield that I am in error ; and
.1 will add, not till then; for I am sure that Mr. Crook, and no other ingenuous
person, desires in reference to these interesting, deeply interesting points, that any-
thing but the truth, and the whole truth should be ascertained. I write from
my bed, where I have been confined for more than fourteen months, and where
in all probability I shall be for some time to come, if even I should be permit-
ted to live much longer, and consequently I should, and do write solely that the
truth may be established for the glory of God. I have no other motive what-
ever in view. By this alone am I governed. I again express the pleasure that
the perusal of Mr. Crook’s work has afforded me. I believe it to be a valua-
ble acquisition to our centenary literature. I shall be pleased indeed to peruse
the other works he has given to the public, so soon as they are received in this
country;
Baltimore, Md.